


Matters of Time and Fate

by FruityPebblezz



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Bonding, Family Bonding, Found Family, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:28:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 36,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23779927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FruityPebblezz/pseuds/FruityPebblezz
Summary: Olivia Mann's life is turned upside down when her father dies, but as everything she's known in her short life is ripped from her, her real life begins.
Relationships: Administrator/Miss Pauling (Team Fortress 2), Heavy/Medic (Team Fortress 2), Soldier/Zhanna (Team Fortress 2)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 133





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this on Tumblr, and a lot of people liked it, and I liked it a lot, too (in case you haven't guessed, found family is my bread and butter). So, here you go, I hope you enjoy!

Thursday was the worst day of Olivia’s life.

She didn’t know when she woke up on Wednesday. All she knew was that her father would get back from whatever he had been doing all day, and once that happened, he could begin training her on how to manage Mann Co. She couldn’t wait; she’d already sketched out all the plans on the changes she was going to make and how she was going to be the best CEO ever – but the unexpected happened.

“Belicia!” she shrieked at her nanny, who came shuffling into her bedroom.

“Yes?” Belicia stood in the doorway, staring blankly at Olivia. Beli had grown used to the constant yelling, as things had been this way ever since Olivia was two.

“Where’s daddy?” Olivia hopped off her bed, crossing her arms. “Call him right now! He’s late!”

“I have called,” Beli sighed. “And there was no answer. I told you before,”

Olivia huffed, turning to stare out the window. “Call him again! Right now,”

Beli just grunted and headed out of the room, her heels scraping against the carpeting. Olivia hoisted herself back up on the bed, staring out the window, expecting her father to arrive at any moment. It was late, way past her bedtime, but bedtime didn’t matter to her. It wasn’t like Beli was going to enforce it upon her, anyway.

Olivia must have fallen asleep at some point, but she hardly remembered it. The next thing she knew, she heard yelling downstairs and the sound of footsteps.

Beli was shouting, “You are not allowed here! Mr. Mann will have you killed for trespassing! Leave, right now!”

Olivia blinked, sitting up and looking around. The sun was up already, but before she could even check to see what was going on, she heard her bedroom door slam. When she glanced in the direction of the door, her heart dropped when she noticed the shape of a woman standing before her.

“Who are you!?” Olivia demanded, clenching her fist and sticking her chin out, doing her best to ignore the fear she felt.

The woman just sat on the edge of her bed, staring directly into her eyes. She said nothing for a moment, before reaching out and gently brushing Olivia’s hair out of her face.

“Let me explain to you what’s going to happen,” the woman began in a low voice. “You’re going to sign over the rights of Mann Co. back to Saxton Hale, and you’re going to never speak of this to anyone again. Do you understand?”

Olivia stood up, her hands balled back up into fists, her lip curling in anger. “No! Go away! I’m gonna tell my dad!”

The woman grabbed Olivia by the shoulders, yanking her closer. “Listen to me,” she hissed out menacingly. “Your father is not going to do anything. He can’t do anything, not anymore,”

“You’re wrong!” Olivia tried to fight her way out of the woman’s grip, but to no avail. “Lemme go! My dad’s gonna kill you!”

“Your father is dead!” the woman snapped suddenly, gripping Olivia’s wrist. “Your father is gone, Olivia,”

Olivia froze, unsure if she heard that correctly. She blinked slowly, still staring up at the woman. “You’re lying,” Olivia managed after a moment, feeling her hands shake. She started to feel dizzy, lightheaded. “He’s not…he’s not—”

“He is,” the woman replied simply, and that’s when Olivia realized who she was: the Administrator.

Olivia tried to break away from her. “No…no!”

The Administrator rose up, holding tightly onto both of Olivia’s hands. “Come with me, it will be easier for you if you don’t fight me,”

Olivia, however, wasn’t going down so easily. She shrieked and kicked wildly, proclaiming, “Lemme go! I’m gonna kill you, lemme go! Stop it!”

The Administrator tried to get a good grip on Olivia while remaining calm, but she let out a shout when Olivia bit her wrist. “Ow! You little—” she turned over her shoulder and called, “Miss Pauling!”

Miss Pauling ran in, pausing at the scene in front of her with a mildly panicked look on her face. “Helen, what do you need me to do?”

“Help me with her!” Helen demanded, and Miss Pauling went right to her aid, grabbing the little girl and restraining her.

Eventually, they managed to maneuver her down the staircase and into the rest of the house, where the reality of the situation began to really sink in.

There were strange men in the house, all going through her and her father’s things and talking amongst themselves. She knew them, too: they were the mercenaries, the one her father had been working against. Belicia was arguing with another woman, and though nothing had gotten physical, it looked as though the two were about to kill each other.

“You aren’t supposed to be here!” Belicia kept insisting, waving her hands wildly.

“We are here, and we do not care!” the other woman snapped back at her. “We will break your neck, you keep on yelling!”

“Zhanna, don’t break the maid’s neck!” Miss Pauling chided, opening the front door before turning her attention back to the Administrator. “Where should we put her?”

“Put her in the van,” Helen replied simply. “She’s going back with us, after all,”

“I’m not!” Olivia swung her arms, trying to free herself. “I am not going anywhere, lemme go! This is my house!”

The mercenaries noticed Olivia’s yelling, and after a moment one of them stepped forward.  
“I will take her to van,” he offered. “You do not have to,”

Miss Pauling swept some hair away from her eyes, looking up. “Oh, Heavy. Will you?”

Heavy nodded, taking Olivia from the two women and lifting her as though she weighed nothing. “You take care of this, I will watch her,”

“Be careful,” the Administrator warned. “We need her in one piece,”

Heavy cast her a look. “I have sisters, I know children,”

He hoisted Olivia upon his shoulder, opening the door and taking her to the van outside, despite her thrashing and protests. When he set her down in the backseat and sat beside her, she began violently punching his arm and yelling some more.

“This is my company! This my house, you can’t do this!” she screamed at him, punching and kicking his bicep, which was nearly the same size as her. “I hate you! I hate all of you! I hate you!”  
Heavy didn’t seem to react to her attacks, and he just watched her in silence, waiting for her to eventually run out of energy. Once she stopped mauling his arm to catch her breath, he said simply, “You have right to be angry, but please stop,”

Olivia panted, her small hands shaking. She slowly sat down, and a cold, dark feeling swept over her and filled her chest.

“…daddy is dead,” she realized, and her lower lip quivered.

“I know,” Heavy replied, moving closer. “I am sorry,”

Olivia sniffled, before she covered her face and began to sob. She hated crying; her father always scolded her horribly if she ever did. But now he wasn’t going to be around to do that…

Heavy sighed, putting his arm around Olivia. “You can cry, it is okay. Sometimes it helps,”

She hated him, and she hated everyone who just went into her house like it didn’t even matter. But she still buried her face into his side and wept bitterly, her hands curled back into fists as she mourned the loss of her father and the loss of the life she’d been promised.

What she didn’t know at the time, however, was that her real life was only beginning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olivia deals with her grief.

The rage was like a fiery knot, getting tighter and tighter and tearing Olivia up from within. She curled in further on herself, glaring at the floor of the van while her heart pounded furiously. She plotted revenge: she had no idea how she would do it, but she would strike all of them, any of them, and rip them to bits. It was as if, for a moment, she forgot there was a significant size difference between herself and these adults who had just inserted themselves into her life, and she also forgot that she was unarmed and without her father. She was helpless.

The van stopped, and she heard Miss Pauling speaking. “So, this is it, huh?”

“Yes,” The Administrator replied from the passenger seat. “Our stay won’t be long, only a few weeks…”

“You know,” Miss Pauling glanced over at the other woman. “You don’t have to stay here with us. If you want your own privacy, I can get you a hotel nearby,”

The Administrator shook her head. “No, no…I don’t currently have access to any camera equipment, and I’d like to keep my eyes on all of you at all times,” she undid her seatbelt, shifting around to look at Olivia. “Saxton Hale could arrive at any time, and when he does, the signing will take place. Do you understand?”

Olivia only glared at Helen, and after a moment she stuck out her tongue at the older woman. Helen pursed her lips together, before opening the car door. “Of course,”

Other cars began pulling up on the front lawn of the Townhouse and the mercenaries began to emerge from each one, coming together for the first time in a few days.

“God, this place looks ancient,” Scout wrinkled his nose, approaching the siding and running his finger up it, collecting a bit of dark brown dust. “Ugh, look at it! It’s all grimy and shit…”

Spy rolled his eyes, nudging Scout and handing him a box of belongings. “Be grateful we have a place, I think it looks rather nice…”

Demo carried a few boxes through the front door, and when he stopped in the kitchen doorway, he glanced around the place with a somewhat saddened look. “What was wrong with our old base? Why’d we have tae stay here?”

“It’s being used as storage, we don’t have rights to it at the moment,” Engineer explained, coming up behind Demo and fishing out a cooler from one of the boxes. “But that’s okay—right here is a good place to rest our feet for a while, y’know?” he opened the fridge but grimaced a little. “Ugh, would ya look at that?”

“What?” Sniper looked over his shoulder, before making a face. “Seriously?”

Engineer pulled out a container of moldy orange peels and a half-gallon of milk, which he promptly threw away. “What’s wrong with people? Damn…leavin’ your old stuff at a rental house…goodness me,”

Once the fridge had been emptied and cleaned, Engineer unloaded a few beers from the cooler. “Once we’re all done with this, fellas, how’d you all feel about goin’ to the market and gettin’ some groceries?”

“That sounds wonderful!” Medic replied, walking in briskly to fill a pitcher with some water. “I’m afraid I’ll have to stay behind, though, Heavy and I have to get the doves settled,”

Engineer nodded. “That’s fine, but hey: the rest of us can go, it can be our lil’ team bonding activity!”

“Hell yeah!” Scout agreed. “It’s been freakin’ ages since we all got to go out and do shit together,” he reached into the fridge, getting out a beer for himself. “God, thank god that old bat kicked the bucket…we don’t gotta worry about his bullshit anymore!”

If Scout had noticed Olivia standing in the kitchen just a few feet away from him, perhaps he wouldn’t have made that comment about the now-deceased Gray Mann. But he didn’t see her, and he didn’t even know she was behind him until he heard her counting, “One…two…three!”

“What—” Scout turned around, just in time to see that Olivia had grabbed one of the kitchen knives, and she had a look of pure hatred in her eyes as she prepared to stab him in the thigh.

Before she could strike, however, Sniper quickly yanked her away from her target and exclaimed, “Aw, hell, no! No, you don’t!”

Olivia shrieked and kicked, twisting around and trying to stab Sniper, but to no avail. Engineer reached in and pried the kitchen knife from the girl’s hand, before scolding her, “That’s very bad! No! Do you need a time out!?”

“Let me go!” Olivia exclaimed, before tipping her head back and slamming it directly into Engineer’s shoulder, headbutting him in hopes to incapacitate him in some form. Nothing was working, so Olivia resorted to just screaming louder and thrashing her limbs, eventually twisting around and kicking Sniper in the jaw.

Sniper let out a yell, stumbling, before he grunted, “Somebody better deal with this kid before I drop her out a window!”

Demo quickly took Olivia, but not knowing what else to do with her, he set her down on the floor again. This time, though, Olivia went with a different instinct and darted towards the adjacent living room. He chased after her, only to watch her climb behind the TV stand and wedge herself there, kneeling on the floor.

Demo paused, unsure of what to do, and he knelt down. “Um…hey, are ye—”

Before he could finish, Olivia screeched at him, “Go away! I hate you!”

“Tavish,” Medic called from the kitchen, gesturing for him to come back. “Leave her alone for a while,”

Olivia panted, her hands quivering as she curled up in the dust behind the TV, and she could hear the men talking about her.

“Ugh, do we have to keep that little brat with us!?” Scout huffed. “She almost freakin’ killed me!”

“It would not have killed you,” Medic corrected him. “It would have only been a stab to the leg,”

Engineer cracked open a can of beer, sighing. “Once she signs over Mann Co., I think she’s gonna go to the orphanage…Hale better get here, soon,”

Olivia felt tears burning her eyes again, but she curled up even further, making herself smaller. Why did her father have to die? Why was this happening? She wanted it all to be a dream, she wanted desperately to wake up in her own bed in her own house, with all of this being a distant memory.

It was then, though, that there was a tapping sound on the side of the TV stand. Olivia lifted her head, and when she heard the tapping again, she wiped her eyes and peeked out to look.

Pyro stood by the stand, a baggie of something clutched in their hand. They knelt down when Olivia peeked out, and they opened the bag to reveal little candies and some small chewing gum packs. Olivia wrinkled her nose, moving away a bit (she wasn’t about to accept a treat from these people who had taken her home away), until she recognized one of the little bonbons.

It was the same kind her father would get for her (when he’d allow her to have sweets, which wasn’t often), and when she saw it, she lowered her guard a bit.

Olivia reached into the bag, grabbing the little strawberry bonbon and unwrapping it. When she popped it into her mouth, Pyro made a delighted sound. They held up a finger as if telling her to wait a moment, before they showed her a little windup dog they’d had in their pocket. Olivia just rolled the bonbon around in her mouth, watching as Pyro demonstrated how the dog worked by winding it up. They set it on the floor, and it began to march around in circles while playing a little tune. Normally, Olivia wouldn’t have been impressed, but somehow the dog was a comfort compared to everything else she’d just experienced.

Pyro sat back, watching the dog before looking back up at Olivia, as if hoping for a reaction. The little mechanism walked its way over to Olivia’s shoe, where it tapped lightly for a few seconds. Olivia didn’t say or do anything, choosing to wrap her arms around herself tighter, as if trying to make herself invisible.

“Hello?” a voice cut in suddenly, startling her. She looked up, seeing that it wasn’t Pyro who had spoken, but Spy.

Spy was kneeling on the wood floor, studying Olivia’s face. “I did not mean to startle you,” he apologized, his voice softer. “What are you doing back there?”

Olivia scowled, moving back. “Go away!”

“Oh, come, now,” Spy looked up at Pyro, nodding at them as if their job here was done. Pyro nodded back, beginning to gather their bag and wind-up dog as Spy continued. “I was going to ask if you were hungry at all. I don’t believe you’ve had breakfast, have you?”

Olivia sniffled, suddenly remembering that the only thing she’d eaten that day was the candy Pyro had just given her. She shook her head, and Spy clicked his tongue. “What a shame. I have a bit of food if you’d like some, and you can eat it in here. But you must sit on the couch if you want some, yes?”

Olivia went quiet again, before she nodded. She stood up shakily, brushing the dust off of herself and stepping out from behind the TV. Spy smiled gently at her, ushering her to the couch and guiding her to sit down. Once she was seated, he handed her a small plate with some crackers and soft cheese, saying, “I understand it’s not a lot, but it’s something,”

As Olivia began to eat silently, Spy sat beside her and watched for a moment. Finally, he had to ask, “Tell me, Olivia: what do you like to do?”

Olivia took another bite of cracker, shrugging. “I dunno,”

“Is there anything you’re good at?” Spy prompted again, maintaining his gentle composure.

“Good at?” Olivia repeated, squinting in thought. She shrugged. “Spreadsheets,”

Spy tilted his head, intrigued. “Spreadsheets?”

“Yeah,” she popped another cracker into her mouth. “For finances – for the company,”

Spy drew in a breath. “I see…” what he’d speculated had been confirmed, and his pity for this girl only grew. He stood up, sliding his hands into his coat pockets. “Well, eat up, and Miss Pauling can help you get your room ready, yes?”

“I have a room, but it’s not here,” Olivia replied, her voice sour again.

“…of course,” Spy sighed, frowning as he realized that this was going to be a long few weeks.


	3. Chapter 3

Engineer took a few boxes to the upstairs bedroom, where he paused along the way to look at an old light fixture. It was definitely going to need some repair…he wasn’t sure how long they were going to be here, but he hoped he could have time to do a little renovation.

Just as he set the boxes down, the bedroom door from across the hall opened, and the Administrator stepped out. The sight of her nearly made Dell jolt - he wasn’t expecting her to actually stay with them, yet here she was.

She locked the door, only to glance across the hall and make eye contact with him. Engineer cleared his throat, not wanting things to be awkward.

“Hey, ma’am,” he took a step closer, wanting to keep friendly. “How are ya settling in?”

Helen just shrugged, crossing her arms. “Fine, I suppose. It’s a shame I don’t have my cameras, but I meant to inquire if you would be willing to buy some,”

“Of course!” Engineer nodded. “I can do that…I ain’t too good with cameras but I can certainly help you set ‘em up…” he knew she was only going to use them to spy on the others, but he maintained his friendliness for the time being.

“Ah, good,” Helen have a curt nod. “I should also let you know that Saxton called: he will be here within a few hours for the signing,”

Engineer clapped his hands together. “Thank the lord! I mean, I’d rather have him in charge than, uh…” he glanced over his shoulder, making sure Olivia wasn’t around before turning back the Administrator. “A little girl,”

“Mm,” was Helen’s only reply, but it seemed like she agreed. “But there will be some changes to the company, you can be sure of that,”

“Yep,” Engineer glanced away, hands going to his pockets, before he took a breath. “Hey, uh…I meant to ask about Olivia: once the signing happens and Hale’s in charge again, what’s gonna happen to Olivia?”

The Administrator’s eyes darted up at Dell. “Why?”

“Because…” Engineer trailed off, sending something was wrong with what he just asked. Still, he continued. “Because she’s still just a kid. How old is she, anyway? I think it’s best if you send her to an orphanage or—“

Helen cut him off there. “She’s six years old, and she’s not going to an orphanage. Do not tell me what’s best, I know what’s best for her and I’m going to do it,” her tone had shifted considerably, and she seemed incredibly defensive all of the sudden.

Engineer started to feel some unease brewing within him, and he took a step back. “Okay, sorry…I was just wonderin….”

“Of course,” The Administrator turned on her heel, heading down the stairs. “And from now on, I ask that you respect my decisions during this time…”

This interaction stuck with Engineer as he got the bedrooms and bathrooms ready for everyone to use, and when he took a break an hour later to play cards and drink coffee with Spy and Demo, he knew he had to bring it up to them.

“And then she just left,” Dell finished, sipping at his mug. “I dunno…I mean, I have to say I know her pretty well compared to the rest of you fellas, my pa worked with her and my ma was friends with her, but she usually ain’t act that unless she’s got a secret…”

Demo shrugged, draining about half of his coffee mug. “She’s always been like that tae me…but I dunnae spend much time ‘round her, she always gave me the creeps,”

Spy hummed in agreement. “Yes…although that is rather interesting. I doubt she wants to protect Olivia from something, she’s never been motherly,” he pondered the thought. “I will have to look into it,”

Engineer sighed, leaning back in his chair. “I dunno…at any rate, I don’t want Olivia to stay here, I dunno about y’all. I feel bad for the kid, she lost her pa and all, but she’s too violent, too much like him…”

Spy made a face at the last statement. “Well, actually - I don’t believe she is,”

Demo snorted. “Aye, no? I mean, did ye see her go after Scout back there? Knife and all!”

“True, but consider,” Spy cleared his throat. “When we were in Gray Mann’s house this morning, I took a look around. You can tell very much about a man and his life just based on the house he lives, you see,”

Dell raised an eyebrow. “Where you goin’ with this?”

Spy went on. “I got a glimpse into Olivia’s room as well, just for a moment, and do you know what I noticed?”

“Huh?” Demo set his coffee mug down, the mug leaving a pale brown ring on the placemat beneath it.

“There were no toys,” he stated simply. “No dolls, no stuffed animals, nothing. Just books and manuals. She’s six years old - why wouldn’t a child that age have any toys?”

“Oh,” Engineer thought for a moment. “I mean, yeah, that’s kinda weird, but…does she behave the way she does just ‘cause she doesn’t have any toys?”

“It goes deeper than that,” Spy went on. “When I spoke to Olivia, the only thing she believes herself to be good at is making spreadsheets. Can you believe it? Spreadsheets!” He shook his head, his lips pursed together in frustration. “Based on these things, I don’t believe I’m incorrect in thinking that Gray Mann never actually wanted a child, he just wanted a carbon copy of himself. So he never gave her toys, he never let her play, and if my thinking is correct, he must have put her to work the moment she learned to talk…she’s never gotten a chance to be a child, and it’s harmed her significantly,”

Engineer let this sink in. “Wow…” he replied after a moment. “I never thought of it like that…damn that Gray Mann, for lettin’ someone else kill him before we could,”

Demo, however, was feeling more of an intense sympathy for Olivia. “It’s just not right!” He exclaimed, his brow furrowed. “Lil’ lass is just six…and that ol’ rat just took her and—!” He took a breath, holding himself back. He shook his head. “We gotta do somethin’…if she’s gonna be here a while, we gotta help her,”

“I’ve been trying to,” Spy confessed. “It will take a while to get her to trust us, but once she does I believe we can help her,”

“Yes!” Demo agreed, getting up. “Ye know what? I’m helpin’ Jane and Zhanna make a shelter out of the shed out back, maybe we can spend time with her after…”

“That’s a good idea,” Spy nodded. “But tread lightly, you don’t want to overwhelm her,”

Demo nodded, putting his used mug in the sink and heading out of the kitchen. “Of course! I’ll go get ‘em…”


	4. Chapter 4

It was 3 AM. The Administrator didn’t call at this hour - not because she didn’t want to bother Miss Pauling, but because she was usually asleep by now. So when Miss Pauling awoke to the phone ringing, needless to say, she was surprised.

Helen’s voice sounded…off. ‘Hollow and empty’ would be the words Miss Pauling thought of when she thought back to that call, and yet she could have sworn she’d heard fear in the older woman’s voice over the phone. All Helen had said was, “I need you over here, right now. I need help,”

“Ma’am, what’s wrong?” Pauling had tried to ask, but Helen wouldn’t elaborate.

“Just come. Please,”

Miss Pauling got in the car and drove out to Helen’s home, which she’d only been to maybe once or twice before this. It was a plain house, hardly decorated at all on the outside, but the inside was always different. Helen answered the door in her bathrobe, and right away Miss Pauling knew something was wrong.

She tried to speak. “Helen, what is—?”

“Just come in,” Helen pulled her inside, her hand quivering. There was a look of fear in her eyes, a ‘deer in headlights’ look, something Miss Pauling had never seen on her before. She felt frightened seeing her like this, it made her gut twist in worry.

As she looked around, the scenery raised even more concern: there were little splatters of blood on the floor, leading to a trail up the stairs, and along the way were some scattered papers and a broken mug.

“What happened?” Miss Pauling wanted to know, looking to Helen, searching her face for answers.

Helen wrung her hands, that same look still shining in her eyes, before she grabbed Pauling’s wrist. “I have to show you…come upstairs,”

Miss Pauling shook herself out of that very stressful memory, watching as Olivia made her bed. After a moment, she asked, “Are you sure you don’t need help?”

“I don’t,” Olivia straightened up, crossing her arms. “I’ve made my own bed before! But my nanny does it mostly…”

Miss Pauling nodded. “I see…” as Olivia spread the quilt onto the bed, Miss Pauling sat down in the nearby chair. “So,” she began, taking a breath. “How’s it going?”

“Bad,” Olivia snapped, glaring. “How do you think?”

“Sorry…” Pauling put her hands up, showing she didn’t mean any harm. “I shouldn’t have…oh, never-mind,” she sighed. “Look, I’m really sorry about your dad,”

Olivia tensed up, scowling, gripping the blanket in her hands. She didn’t say anything, and she didn’t look at Miss Pauling.

There was a long pause, before Pauling stood up. “I can get the rest of your room ready, you can go walk around to get your mind off things, okay?”

Olivia didn’t actually want this strange woman touching her belongings and putting the room in a way she didn’t want it to be. But at the same time, she didn’t want to be there, because she knew she was going to cry again. She didn’t want anyone to see her cry, so she laid the quilt back down and stalked out, her small hands balled into fists.

Olivia headed straight for the adjacent bathroom, closing the door behind her. Now alone, she tucked herself into the corner and curled into a ball, beginning to sob once more. She felt like things couldn’t get any worse than this, and she hated everyone and everything. As she sobbed, she got up and walked to the mirror, watching herself break down. It was pathetic, she knew it was pathetic. She could almost hear her father’s voice in her head scolding her, but she did her best to block it out. He hated it when she cried, so she almost never did it. But now he was gone…now, she could cry as much as she wanted.

Eventually, the tears stopped, and Olivia pulled down a towel to mop her tears up. She fixed her hair in the mirror, wiping her eyes and blinking until she appeared somewhat decent. She then took a breath, opening the door, only to become face to face with the Administrator.

Olivia froze up, shrinking back, her hand curling back into a fist. “What do you want?” She hissed at the older woman, scowling.

Helen just stared down at her, a strange amusement in her eyes. “I just want to make sure you’re all right,” she explained coolly, watching Olivia’s reactions. “We want you to be comfortable, after all,”

There was a long pause as the two just stared at each other, and then Olivia slipped out quietly, heading down the hallway. Once she was out of sight, Helen sighed, shaking her head and shutting the bathroom light off.

Olivia trotted down the stairs, before deciding she would go outside. She wasn’t really sure why, she just felt the need to be somewhere else, somewhere far away from that old woman and those men.

Upon arriving in the backyard, however, Olivia found that there were at least three people she’d seen earlier that day who were doing something with the shed. She tried to leave, but one of them had already spotted her.

“Aye, Olivia!” Demoman called out cheerfully, approaching her. “Hey, how are ye?”

Olivia turned to look at him, making a face. “I dunno,” was all she said.

Demo gestured to the shed behind him, trying to show her that he really did want to be friendly with her. “Well, we’re workin’ on a shelter back here in the shed. Would ye wannae help decorate with us?”

Olivia thought about it. She had nothing to do, but she also didn’t want to work or really do anything…what she really wanted to do was scream some more, maybe punch someone, but she was coming to find that these men didn’t react the way other men would with her.

“We are not decorating!” A voice snapped from the shed, and Soldier poked his head out. “We are preparing for attacks! Decorating is for pansies!”

“Jane!” Demo hissed at him, gritting his teeth. “I told ye—! Ach,” he turned back to Olivia. “Sorry ‘bout him, he’s just…”

“I like to prepare defenses,” Olivia suddenly looked interested, and she approached the shed. “Do you have weapons?”

“I…” Demoman trailed off, bewildered as he watched Soldier emerge from the shed and hand Olivia a shovel. “Bloody hell!”

“I use this!” Soldier beamed proudly, watching as Olivia experimentally swung it around and held it up to the light. “It’s perfect for attacks, it can stun and leave a bruise, any good warrior will tell you that!”

Demo laughed nervously, prying the shovel away from Olivia. “Ah-hah, we wouldnae want her to hurt herself, would we? C’mon, now…” in reality, he’d seen how violent Olivia could get, and he knew the last thing to do was give a child like that a weapon.

“Hurt herself? Ridiculous!” Soldier stepped forward and put a finger to Demo’s chest, huffing. “She’s perfectly capable, I had a rocket launcher when I was seven! I know how it all works!”

“No, Jane - I told ye, that’s different because it wasnae a real one!” Demoman tried to elaborate, but Soldier wasn’t having it.

As the two began bickering, Olivia looked back out towards the shed, where she noticed Zhanna filling a box with little shiny items. Curious, Olivia approached, which got Zhanna’s attention.

“Hello, little girl,” Zhanna greeted, pushing the box towards her. “I found this box, has bullets inside. I do not know if they work,”

Olivia peered over the edge of the box, examining the bullets for a moment, before looking back up at Zhanna. “Can we get a gun and test them?”

Zhanna shook her head. “No, not now. You are still little, and there is no danger. You do not need a gun,”

Olivia huffed, kicking some dirt. “Am I gonna get to do anything? Hm…” she glanced back at Zhanna, but that was when she noticed the still-bloodied bandaged wrapped around what should have been the woman’s hand.

Olivia stared for a moment, before she moved closer, pawing at the stump. “Did you get hurt?” She asked, rather bluntly.

Zhanna recoiled, gripping at the wounded area, her expression changing to one more serious. “Yes,” she replied after a moment, her eyes meeting Olivia’s. “Do not touch,”

“Oh…” Olivia pursed her lips together, before she asked, “Did you really wanna kill my nanny?”

Zhanna’s brow furrowed, a bit confused. “What?”

“When you were at my house,” Olivia clarified. “I saw you yelling at her - my nanny, Belicia,”

“Oh,” Zhanna wrinkled her nose. “She left, we did not fight for very long. She was just annoy me, yes?”

Olivia nodded. “Yeah. I’ve known her my whole life,”

Zhanna raised an eyebrow, sitting up. “Whole life? Is she mother? Your mother?”

“No,” Olivia shook her head, shrugging. “I don’t have a mother,”

Zhanna let this process for a moment, before she tilted her head curiously. “You have no mother?”

“No,”

“No sisters? Brothers?”

Olivia shook her head once more. “No. My family is just my daddy, me, and Belicia,” upon saying those words, Olivia realized that she no longer had her father, and her nanny was nowhere to be found. She really was all alone, now, so far from what she knew.

Zhanna frowned, resting her chin in her hand, going quiet in thought. Just then, Demo approached, handing Olivia a box of pillows.

“Here! Sorry ‘bout that…” he cleared his throat. “I was thinkin’ ye could use this tae make a place to sit on the floor,”

Olivia picked up one of the pillows, wrinkling her nose at it. It was dusty, and it smelled like cheap leather. She tossed it to the floor of the shed anyway, though, remarking, “I don’t think is gonna be a very good shelter,”

“Nonsense!” Soldier corrected her, suddenly appearing over Olivia’s shoulder with a box of rocket fuel. “Rockets make everything better!”

Olivia gasped, her eyes lighting up in interest. “Ooh! Rockets?”

Zhanna stood up, coming to root through the box. “Share with me, too, Jane!”

Demo huffed, rolling his eyes but laughing. “Aye, lord…”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spy goes snooping, and makes a discovery.

Normally, Spy would never have even considered doing this kind of thing, at least not with the Administrator.

He knew he had to be extra careful with her since she was a ruthless woman with a sharp mind. If she caught him in here, he would likely face the worst of consequences at her hands.

Lucky for him, however, Spy also knew that Helen tended to take long showers, so there was a decent window of time for him to go snooping in her bedroom. And she’d left the door unlocked - how fortunate.

Quiet as could be, Spy crept into the room and slowly closed the door behind him. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was looking for, but he knew there had to be some reason why she was so insistent on letting Olivia stay with them. There was always a reason behind every one of Helen’s decisions, he’d known her long enough to know that much.

There were still boxes sitting out from the move, all full of paperwork as well as various items of clothing. Spy briefly looked through most of them, finding very little at first, until he came across a box that caught his attention: it was a small, wooden crate that was simply labeled “Olivia” in black writing that was obviously Miss Pauling’s handwriting. Spy perked up at the sight of it, grabbing the crate and pulling it towards him, removing the lid.

What he found was…interesting. About four folders were neatly tucked into the back of the crate, but beside them were wrinkled and stained baby clothes along with an old towel which was covered in faded, copper stains. Spy wrinkled his nose at the sight, picking up the towel before quickly setting it down in disgust. He thought about snagging it for Medic to test on, but he felt too revolted to keep touching it.

Spy chose a random folder and opened it, and his brow furrowed in confusion. At first he didn’t know what he was looking at, but after a few seconds of skimming the page, he realized exactly what it was: a birth certificate. It was clearly Olivia’s, and it was dated back to about six years prior. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, as the page detailed her birthweight, her length, even showing two tiny footprints pressed onto the page, as was commonplace after a baby’s birth (from what Spy recalled, anyhow). Yet when he looked to the names of the parents, he suddenly realized that something was very off.

The father was listed as Gray Mann, obviously, but the mother’s name only said, “NON APPLICABLE”. Spy stared at this for a moment, trying to decipher what this could mean. Did the mother die during childbirth? Did Gray Mann want to keep her identity a secret from everyone? Or, what this seemed to indicate, was there even a mother at all?

Spy put it back and reached for another folder, hoping whatever was in this one could give him the answers. As he looked through it, though, it became apparent that this folder was just filled with Olivia’s medical records. Nothing was out of the ordinary there, although he did notice that she was vaccinated. Gray Mann may have been a bastard of a human, but at least he had the sense and decency to get his daughter vaccinated.

Spy went for the third folder, and when he opened this one, he let out a gasp as he realized that it contained Gray Mann’s will. It wasn’t very long at all, just a few pages, but before Spy could look through it properly, he heard Helen’s footsteps approaching the door. Quickly, Spy pocketed the will and close the crate, returning it to where he’d found it and swiftly cloaking himself. The door opened, and Helen stepped in, wearing a fuzzy green bathrobe with her initials embroidered into it, her wet hair down for a rare moment and draped against her shoulders. She closed the door behind her and went to her mirror, beginning to comb through her hair. All of the sudden, though, she stopped, her eyes narrowing, as if she sensed Spy’s presence. Spy pressed up against the wall and held his breath, staying as still as possible so she wouldn’t suspect anything.

Helen went back to her hair after a few seconds, combing it back. Spy almost sighed in relief but stopped himself from doing so, before he slipped off to hide in the closet. He couldn’t go out the door, now, she would hear him.

Yet as luck would have it, there was a laundry chute in the closet, and if anyone was a master at sliding down laundry chutes, it was Spy. He climbed right in as quietly as possible, sliding all the way down, praying he wouldn’t make any sounds that would alert her.

Spy tumbled down into the laundry room in the basement, where he landed in a pile of recently dried clothes. Engineer, who was doing the laundry, froze when he saw Spy land in the clothes.

“The hell you doin’ in there!?” Engineer demanded to know, dropping a pair of his jeans and putting his hands on his hips. “I just folded those, too!”

“Sorry,” Spy cleared his throat, standing up and straightening himself out. “Do you have the time?”

Engineer checked his watch. “It’s about four. Dinner won’t be for a while,” he eyed the folder Spy had peeking from his jacket. “What’s that?”

“Nothing that concerns you,” Spy assured, turning on his heel to go upstairs.

As Spy headed upstairs, he could hear Miss Pauling talking to someone on the phone. She was saying, “We agreed that it was going to happen tonight, and now you’re not coming!? Saxton, what am I gonna tell Helen?”

Spy paused in the doorway, listening. He heard Pauling sigh.

“Okay, okay…still, you’d better come tomorrow. The quicker you get here, the quicker we can get this company out of the hands of a literal child. I know she’s just a kid, but she’s more bitter than any adult I’ve met,”

She went quiet as she listened to him talk, before replying, “Okay, talk to you later…bye,”

Pauling hung up, and Spy approached her. “Saxton isn’t coming tonight?”

“No,” Pauling sighed, crossing her arms. “He and Bidwell got carjacked or something, but whatever. In any case, Olivia’s not signing over anything tonight,”

“I’m not?” A voice by the door asked, getting the attention of both adults. Olivia stood in the doorway, some grass in her hair.

Spy clicked his tongue, pulling her close. “Goodness, child, what happened here?”

“Oh…” Olivia blinked, letting him fix her hair. “Pyro wanted to make a crown for me,”

Spy raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” Olivia went on. “Soldier wanted us to play ‘capture the flag’ but we forgot the rules, so they made me queen!”

“She won all the awards!” Soldier appeared from behind, covered in grass stains, and he scooped Olivia up. “She’s a good warrior!”

Spy grunted, grabbing a towel and trying to clean Soldier with it. “Ugh, look at you! Go take a shower, you will get stains on her, too!”

As Soldier set Olivia down, she went right to the sink to get some water. Miss Pauling took this time to try and talk to her again.

“Hey, Olivia,” she began gently. “You’re gonna have to wait to give Saxton Hale the rights to Mann Co., okay? But it’s still gonna happen,”

Instantly, Olivia’s demeanor changed. “No,” she stuck her chin out, her cup still grasped in her small hand. “It’s my company, daddy said it’s my birthright!”

Spy looked on, feeling the will in his jacket pocket. He would have to check and see if that was true, and if it was, how much control had Gray actually left her?

In the moment, however, he decided to distract her. “Olivia, how about you go wash up, and you can help make dinner?”

Olivia scowled at him, but after a moment she agreed. “Fine,” she downed the water and set the cup aside, heading out of the kitchen and upstairs.

Miss Pauling watched her go, before remarking you Spy, “You’re really good with her,”

“I’ve had practice,” he replied simply, heading for the office to do some reading.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olivia meets a baboon.

Olivia finished showering rather quickly - she knew how to shower fast, her father had trained her to do it practically ever since she was a baby - and she regrettably put on the same clothes she had been wearing earlier. For whatever reason, no one would tell her where her regular clothes had gone to, but she hoped they would return to her soon.

However, when she returned to her bedroom, she was surprised to find a lilac, floral print nightgown laying across the bed. It wasn’t something she owned, she had never seen it until now, so someone must have bought it for her and laid it out. She looked around, confused, wondering who would have left clothes for her, but nevertheless she put it on. She took a moment to observe herself in the mirror, feeling pleased with the color and how it looked, before turning to head downstairs. 

Heavy was at the stove, cooking something in the pot, and when Olivia walked in he remarked, “That is nice dress, little Olivia,” 

“Yeah,” she looked down at it, shifting from one foot to the other. “It was on my bed,” she looked up at the pot. “What’s that?” 

“Stroganoff,” Heavy gestured to the pot. “It has beef and noodles,” he carefully picked up Olivia so she could look inside. “See?”

Olivia wrinkled her nose, as it did not look like something she was used to eating, but it smelled good. “Oh...”

Heavy balanced her in one arm as he picked up some seasoning, and he handed it to her. “Want to put this in?” 

Olivia thought about it, and then nodded, reaching for the cup. “Okay,” she poured some of it in, and then looked to Heavy. “Like that?” 

Heavy smiled, patting her shoulder. “Good job! Yes, very good,” he handed her the spoon. “Now stir,” 

Olivia carefully stirred with the spoon, once again looking to Heavy for approval. “Is this good?”

“Yes,” Heavy nodded, and then tilted his head curiously. “Never cooked before?”

“No,” Olivia shook her head. “Our cook always did it,” 

Heavy frowned. “I see...it is important to learn how to cook for self. I learn this at young age, maybe your age,” 

Just then, Medic walked in, carrying a crate full of something. “That smells wonderful, Misha,” he grinned, before noticing Olivia. “What are you doing?” 

“I put in that stuff,” she pointed to the seasoning, though her eyes were now fixated on the crate. “What’s that?” 

“Some supplies,” Medic shrugged. “I am busy setting up my lab and office down in the basement, I need every piece I can get,” 

“Lab?” Olivia tilted her head, curious. “You have a lab? I wanna see it,” 

Medic quickly clarified, “Oh, but it is not finished! Also it is not safe for small children...”

Olivia frowned. “I’m not a small child! I’m six,” 

“That is small,” Medic countered simply. 

“Doktor,” Heavy set Olivia down, gently pushing her towards him. “She can look at lab, tell her to be careful,”

Medic thought about it, then sighed. “Very well. Come along, Olivia,”

He led Olivia down to the basement, where he set down the crate beside a table full of tools. “It is messy at the moment, but soon it will be nice and neat. Those cabinets are where I keep all the medicine,”

Olivia wandered around, taking everything in. It looked like a doctor’s office, but it wasn’t quite as clean as she remembered the doctor’s office being. There was a rattling sound above her head, and she looked up. 

“There’s a bird!” She gasped, pointing to Archimedes, who was seated upon the overhead lamp. 

“Oh, yes!” Medic held out his hand and clicked his tongue. “Come say hello, Archimedes!”

Archimedes started blankly at Medic and Olivia, before cooing and flitting off to the other room. Medic sighed. “Ugh, he is being shy...do not worry, he is social when he wants to be,” 

Olivia heard another sound a few feet away, and that’s when she noticed the playpen by the radiator. Something was wiggling in the playpen, all while making grunting sounds. 

“What’s that?” Olivia stepped a bit closer, intrigued. 

“Oh!” Medic chuckled, walking briskly over to the playpen and reaching in. “This is Teddy! He is brand new, he is just waking from a nap,” Medic cradled Teddy in his arms, before turning around and kneeling down to show Olivia. “He’s a baboon,”

Olivia stared in wonder, watching Teddy turn and stare back up at her with large, round eyes. “A baboon? Oh...” she moved back part of the soft blanket he was wrapped in, before remarking, “He has a diaper!”

“Yes,” Medic laughed. “He does, he’s much like a human infant. We aren’t that different from apes, you know,” 

Teddy studied Olivia’s face for a moment, before reaching up tugging on the collar of her nightgown. Medic chuckled, carefully prying his fingers away. “Be polite, Teddy!”

Olivia smiled a little, carefully touching Teddy’s head and stroking the soft fur there. Medic watched for a moment, before asking, “Would you like to give him a bottle?”

“A bottle?” Olivia glanced back up, blinking. 

“Yes, you can feed him if you like,” Medic got up, pulling up a chair nearby and directing Olivia to sit down. “Here— sit here, I will get a bottle ready and you can feed him,” 

Olivia sat down, and she watched as Medic got a baby bottle of milk out of his fridge and heated it up in an old microwave right near by. Once that was done, he shook a bit out onto his wrist to test the temperature, before turning back to Olivia. 

“All right,” he began, and he laid Teddy in her arms. “Be careful, he is rather heavy,” 

Olivia struggled to get a grip on the baby baboon, surprised at just how big he really was, but after a moment she was able to hold him properly. As she finally situated Teddy, Medic handed her the bottle. “Here, hold his head up, just like that...good!”

Olivia tentatively offered Teddy the bottle, and after a moment he latched right on, beginning to drink eagerly. Something about seeing that made Olivia’s heart jump, and after a few seconds she felt herself grinning. 

Medic watched over her shoulder, smiling as well. “What a good boy! Oh, he’s hungry...he’s been napping all day, it makes sense he would be so hungry,”

Olivia watched Teddy eat, almost mesmerized by how focused he was on it, before she looked up at Medic. “Where’s his mommy and daddy?” She wanted to know. 

Medic went quiet for a moment, before he answered simply, “Well...not here, that’s for certain,” he cleared his throat. “But I take care of him, now, and that is all that matters,” he reached for a nearby cloth. “He is almost done, I will take him once he finishes,”

Once Teddy finished up the bottle, Medic carefully took him from Olivia and brought him up on his shoulder, patting his back. Teddy hiccuped, and Medic wiped his mouth with the cloth. “Good job!” He praised, grinning, before looking back at Olivia. “That was very good, have you ever fed an infant before?”

Olivia shook her head. “No,”

“Well, that was very well done, he drank the whole bottle!” Medic laid Teddy down on the counter, beginning to change him. “He likes you, I can definitely see that,”

He likes me, Olivia thought, feeling strangely giddy. She watched Teddy, and she reached out to tickle his foot a little as he was dressed into a set of tiny baby clothes. 

Medic laughed, finishing buttoning Teddy up and popping a pacifier into his tiny mouth. “There we are! Oh, I have missed having a little one to take care of,” he picked Teddy up again and kissed him sweetly. 

Olivia watched him curiously. “Did you have a baby?” She asked after a few seconds. 

“Well,” Medic chuckled, carefully fixing the fuzz on Teddy’s head. “He is not a baby anymore, but I have a little boy back in my home country. He is—,”

“Doktor,” Heavy’s voice called from the top of the stairs. “Dinner is ready, whole team must come eat,” 

“All right, all right,” Medic turned to Olivia, ushering her upstairs, Teddy still nestled in his arms. “Come, lets go. I’m sure you must be hungry, and Misha’s beef stroganoff is amazing,”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spy reads the will.

It was after dinner that Spy decided he would sit down and read Gray Mann’s will.

He picked a quiet area of the study and made sure no one would see him by turning the lights low, although he left a tiny light on just for himself. He opened the document, flipping to the first page, and he began to read. 

‘In the unlikely event of my death—,’

Spy paused to roll his eyes at the word ‘unlikely’. Did Gray really think he would live forever? Of course, if he truly believed it, then there wouldn’t be a will in the first place. 

Spy started over: ‘In the unlikely event of my death: all of my savings, off-shore bank accounts, possessions, and my position are all to be inherited by my daughter, Olivia. She may take over the company after the fact, but she will not have access to my money until she turns thirteen years old.’

Spy had to stop for a moment, his brow furrowing. Why thirteen? Did he not trust Olivia with money? He supposed that made sense, as she was only six years old at the moment, but Gray certainly had no issue with age since he’d said she was going to be the one to take over the company. 

Still, he read on. ‘Olivia is young, yet I have extensively trained her to take over the company, and I have done so ever since she was two years old. She is sufficiently prepared to handle any and all adult responsibilities, although she will need a caretaker since she is still a child. Therefore, if anything should happen to me while Olivia is still a child, I leave her in the care of my maid and her nanny, Belicia Wao.’

Spy sighed a little. He wondered if Belicia had known that Gray had made her Olivia’s sole caretaker, and that was why she had left so quickly. 

‘To ensure that my funds and power will never fall into the wrong hands,’ Gray went on. ‘If something ever should happen to Olivia, God forbid, then the inheritance will go to Ms. Wao. I have known Ms. Wao for many years, she is one of the few people I trust, and she has helped me raise Olivia. Although this would be unlikely, I would trust her to take over the company...’

Spy set the paper down, his brow furrowed in confusion. Something about this didn’t seem right. Why would Gray even include this in the will? Did he think someone was going to come after Olivia? And why didn’t Belicia know about this? If anything were to happen to Olivia, wouldn’t the nanny want to know if she still had responsibilities after the fact?

He was going to have to talk to Belicia, that was for certain. He would find her number and call her, to figure out where she was.   
He tried to think about why the Administrator could have wanted to keep this. Gray was dead anyhow, and no one was going to respect his final wishes. Why would Helen even care about the will? She could have just shredded it and forgotten all about...

Suddenly Spy realized why she cared so much. He realized why they were keeping Olivia here, and why Helen has been so insistent upon it. 

She was going to adopt Olivia, and then kill her for the fortune. 

Spy hoped he was wrong— he knew Helen, he knew she would do a lot of things, but would she kill a child? If it was the child of a former enemy, she might not hesitate, and it was no secret that she was not sensitive to basic morals...

To confirm his theory, he wouldn't try to get information directly from her, but instead he would go to Miss Pauling. She would have to know, since Helen trusted her with everything. And if she wouldn’t tell him, he had ways of making her talk. 

He got up and took a swig of his drink, folding the will back up and placing it in his pocket. Spy knew he wasn’t going to let this go - he had to protect Olivia. He was never going to let anything happen to a child, no matter what. 

Upstairs, in Olivia’s room, Olivia didn’t quite know what to do with herself. Normally at this time in the evening, she and her father would be discussing finances, but now she was just on a bed that was not her own, picking absently at the quilt she’d laid across there earlier. She rolled onto her back, watching the ceiling, and she sighed. She wanted to go home so badly, to be in her own room, but instead she had to be here for god knows how long...

A knock at the door startled her out of her thoughts. She sat up, barking out, “What?”

“It’s me,” a voice called back, and Olivia recognized it as the Administrator. 

“Oh...” Olivia stared at the door, confused and a bit nervous. “What?”

The door opened, which annoyed Olivia greatly because she hadn’t given permission for it to be opened, and Helen stepped in, clutching something in her hand. 

“How is your bed?” Helen asked, her voice quiet as she closed the door behind herself. 

Olivia watched her for a moment. “I dunno...”

Helen approached and sat down with her, revealing that she held a hair brush in her hand. “Well, if you don’t mind...I would like to brush your hair,”

Olivia blinked, letting this process, and she shrunk back a little. “Why...?” It wasn’t that she wasn’t used to having her hair brushed— her nanny did it all the time. But she didn’t trust Helen, partially because her father had hated her. 

“Does it matter why? I would just like to. It’s awfully messy...” she gestured for Olivia to turn around. “It won’t take long,”

Olivia hesitated, but she turned around anyway, drawing her knees up to rest her chin on them. Helen began to gently comb through the hair, just as she’d said she would, occasionally taking the time to smooth down flyaways with her own hand. Olivia remained tense the entire time, looking back every now and again to make sure the Administrator was without a weapon or some such thing. She was actually more gentle than Belicia was with brushing, Olivia realized, although she was definitely slower and more deliberate. 

After a moment, Helen laid the brush down, and she tied up Olivia’s hair with a little ribbon. “There,” Helen affirmed, and she stood up. “What do you think?”

Olivia reached behind her head, feeling the ponytail, and she shrugged. “Yeah— it’s okay,” she looked down at her hands, picking at her nails a little.

There was a pause, before Helen spoke up again. “Do you need anything else?” 

Olivia looked back up, and she asked, “When are my clothes coming here? Am I gonna get them back?”

“I don’t have a say in that,” Helen replied simply. 

“Oh...” Olivia frowned, crossing her arms and staring at the floor. “I’d better get them back soon,”

Helen sighed. “Just be patient. For now, it’s time for bed,” she stood back up, heading for the door and opening it, switching off the light on her way out. “Goodnight, Olivia,”

“Goodnight,” Olivia replied softly, though she was slightly startled at having been left in darkness without warning. She sat there for a moment, the whole world seemingly going silent aside from the hum of the radiator and the crickets outside, before curling up and pulling the quilt over herself. 

Tears burned her eyes again as she wished she could be home again, and for just a moment as she was falling asleep, she closed her eyes and imagined she was there: back in her too-big bed with the books in the bookshelves and the dresses hanging in her closet, something that already felt like a distant dream.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the month-long delay! I hope this is worth it.

Sniper woke up early that morning, and the first thought in his mind was that he wanted to make coffee. He’d had a rough, feverish sleep the previous night, and he needed to cleanse his mind with a cup of black coffee. Just the way he liked it.

As Sniper went to the kitchen and began to prepare coffee in the pot, he internally praised himself for waking up early before everyone else. Now he could have his coffee and he could make his breakfast in peace and quiet, without anyone –

“Are you making coffee?”

Sniper startled, turning around to see Olivia standing there. He fumbled for a moment, trying to think of how to answer.

“Uh…yeah, I am,”

Olivia hopped up on the chair beside the kitchen counter, looking over his shoulder. “Make a cup for me! I like milk and sugar in mine,”

Sniper processed this for a moment, before he looked back at Olivia, confusion in his eyes. “What? You want coffee?”

Olivia looked at him like he’d just asked a stupid question. “Yeah? I like coffee! My nanny makes some for me every morning, with milk and sugar,”

Sniper scoffed. “Really? I mean…” he scratched the back of his head. “You’re only six, should you really be drinking coffee?”

Olivia pursed her lips together. “My daddy says I can have it! He says everyone drinks it,”

“Well,” Sniper cleared his throat. “Six-year-olds don’t drink it. You know what I drank when I was six?”

When Olivia shook her head, Sniper replied, “Milkshakes, I used to drink them every morning. They’re not really that healthy, but I can show you how to make some,”

“Milkshakes?” Olivia thought about it, and then shrugged. “Okay. Can we put chocolate in it?”

Sniper just grinned at her. “I like your thinking! We can put whatever we want in them. You like peanut butter?”

Olivia nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah!”

“All right, all right,” Sniper laughed, opening a cabinet and getting out a jar of peanut butter, as well as some cocoa powder. “Let’s get started – pass me the blender, yeah?”

Meanwhile, Engineer was sleeping peacefully on his air mattress when he was rudely awoken by the loud whirring of a blender in the kitchen. He startled, stumbling to his feet in the direction of the noise.

“What in Sam Hill is all that racket!?” he snapped, hovering in the doorway.

Sniper looked up from where he was pulsing the blender. “Sorry, mate! We’re making milkshakes, blender’s real loud…”

Olivia stared at the mixture of peanut butter, vanilla ice cream, cocoa, and banana through the clear plastic of the blender. “Press the button again! It still looks lumpy…”

Sniper pressed the button, and the violent whirring struck right back up. Engineer flinched at the sound. “Gosh darn it! I should make a blender that’s real quiet – I probably could!”

The whirring died down again, and Olivia checked the milkshake again, frowning. “Still lumpy!”

Before Sniper could mash the button again, Engineer shooed him away from the blender. “Hey, y’know what? There’s some stuff we still need from the store, how about we take a little shopping trip and I can buy some more parts to build a quiet blender? Then you can put whatever you want in there without wakin’ the whole house,”

Sniper huffed. “Look, the milkshakes aren’t done! Gotta blend ‘em somehow,”

Engineer grabbed a wooden spoon and handed it to Sniper. “Use this! Do it the old fashioned way,”

Sniper rolled his eyes, but he took the spoon and poured the mixture into a bowl. He then stirred around a bit before it appeared edible, and then he poured it into two separate glasses. “Here ya go,”

Olivia took one of the glasses, eyeing it suspiciously before taking a sip. Sniper sat down at the table with his own glass, watching her. “Thoughts?”

Olivia thought for a moment, before nodding. “Good! It’s good,”

As she sat down and started to drink the rest of it, Engineer began cleaning out the blender, when a thought struck him. “Hey, Olivia – would you wanna go to the store with us? You can look around, it might be good to spend some time outside,”

“The store?” Olivia asked, blinking. Her father never took her shopping, they always had someone around who would just pick up groceries and other necessities for them. “To do what? Buy things?”

“Well, yeah,” Sniper shrugged. “That’s what the store is for. You could even look at some toys too, if you want,”

“Toys…” Olivia had never owned any toys. Her father always dismissed them as ‘childish’, and she’d done the same. But, she realized, he wasn’t around, now…

“Okay, I’ll go,” she agreed, and then reached for her glass of milkshake again. “But right after I finish this,”

Sniper just chuckled. “Yeah, of course…”

Upon waking, Scout could hear the sound of Engineer’s truck starting up from the driveway. Confused, he got out of bed and went downstairs, watching as Sniper got his shoes on by the door.

“Hey!” Scout barked, leaning over the railing of the stairs. “Where you guys goin’?”

Sniper glanced up from his shoes. “Oh, we’re gonna go to the shopping center. We just gotta pick up a couple things,”

Scout hopped down the stairs, fixing his hair and grabbing an apple from a bowl of fruit on the counter to eat. “Can I go? I’ve been dyin’ to get some extra clothes and stuff!”

“Sure, if you want,” Sniper shrugged. “How fast can you get ready?”

“So fast!” Scout took another big bite of the apple, turning on his heel to head upstairs. “I’ll be dressed before you know it – I’m a master at gettin’ ready quick!”

True to his word, Scout was in his day clothes within just a few minutes. He sprayed on his cologne and bounced back downstairs, only to see Olivia standing by the door.

Scout flinched, as he was still a bit wary around the girl. “…hi? Um, whatcha doing, kid?”

Olivia looked away, and Sniper clarified, “She’s coming with us, we’re gonna get her out of the house for a bit,”

“Wha…!?” Scout opened his mouth to argue, but when he saw Olivia staring back at him again, he thought better of himself. “Okay, fine…” he sighed. “Is Engie outside in the car?”

“Yep,” Sniper opened the door, ushering Olivia and Scout out of the house. “Let’s not keep him waiting,”

As soon as everyone was in the vehicle, Engineer started it up and began to head down the dirt path leading to the road. The sun was shining bright overhead, casting the sky in a brilliant blue.

Olivia watched as the hills rolled by through the windows of the truck. She’d never seen anything like it until now, and she thought it was very beautiful. The way the sun reflected off of the wheat in the fields and the grass looked like something out of a story book to her, and it made her feel something she had never felt before, some kind of longing deep within her soul…

Engineer switched the radio on to a country station, and Scout huffed. “Aw, come on! Seriously, Engie?”

“Hey, it ain’t my fault you don’t have taste,” Engineer replied simply.

Olivia tilted her head, listening to the music. “What’s this?”

“Country music,” Sniper answered. “Have you never heard country music before?”

“No,” Olivia shrugged. “It sounds like those weird movies my daddy used to watch,”

Scout’s brow furrowed. “What movies?”

Olivia searched for how to describe it. “Movies about these men with big hats and guns…cowboy movies! They’re called cowboys, I forgot,”

“Old westerns?” Engineer sounded surprised as he turned a corner, heading down into the town. “Your dad liked old westerns, Olivia?”

Olivia nodded. “Yeah, he watched them a lot while he did his work. I watched them only sometimes,” she remembered walking in during a scene where a sheriff was pointing his gun at a burglar, and how her father had paused his paperwork to point to the screen.

“Do you see that, Olivia?” he had asked. “We call that a ‘negotiation’,”  
“But there’s a gun,” Olivia had pointed out. “And they aren’t really talking…”  
“This is a last resort negotiation,” Gray went on to explain. “They actually are very good at getting what you want, you might find out,”

Olivia blinked, coming back to the present as she heard Scout talking again. “Huh!” he remarked. “Never took him for the type to watch those kinda movies, always thought he was more of…” Scout trailed off, glancing at Olivia and recalling what had happened the last time he made a snide remark about her father. “…never-mind.”

Olivia folded her arms back up and looked out the window, getting quiet again. The whole truck went silent aside from the music playing on the radio before Scout decided to at least try and make conversation.

“So, uh…” he cleared his throat, getting Olivia’s attention. “What are you hoping to find at the store, kid?”

Olivia just shrugged. “I don’t know,”

“You don’t know?” Scout asked, surprised. “Damn, whenever I went to the store as a kid, I always had a list of stuff I wanted to buy with my allowance. You can’t think of anything?”

“No,” Olivia shook her head. “I’ve never been shopping before,”

Scout’s eyes widened in alarm at that. “Never!? Damn, kid, what have you been doing your whole life? You know what? Here’s what we’re gonna do – I’m gonna show you what to do while at a store! I’m a pro, you’re gonna thank me later,”

“Don’t teach her anything stupid,” Sniper warned. “We don’t wanna get her in trouble,”

Scout waved him off. “Aw, come on! It’s gonna be fun, I promise,”

They finally arrived at the shopping plaza, a place Olivia had never seen before. As Engineer parked, Olivia stepped out and looked up at the buildings with awe. “Wow! There’s so many stores!”

“I know, right?” Scout got out after her, before turning to look at Engie. “Where to first, hardhat?

Engineer pulled out a list, checking it. “Well, let’s see…we need parts for the new blender, some extra snacks, and then whatever else we think we might need,”

Sniper pointed out a hardware store nearby. “How about there first? That looks like it’d have blender parts,”

As they walked in, Engineer turned to Olivia and Scout. “We’re gonna look at some parts, you two look around. Scout?” his tone changed to one more serious. “Keep her outta trouble, okay? I mean it,”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Scout waved him off, before gesturing for Olivia to follow him. “C’mon, kid! Let’s have an adventure,”

Olivia trailed after him, curious over what ‘adventure’ this store could have to offer. They wandered around a bit, before Scout paused. “Ooh, okay! Take a look!”

“What?” Olivia looked to where he was pointing, and she gasped a little. Sitting several feet away were a line of model bathrooms, complete with their own bathtubs and showers. “What is that? Are those real bathrooms?”

“Nope!” Scout grinned, approaching one and running his hand over the sink. “They’re models – if you wanna buy a bathroom, or make one, or whatever, these are models you can follow, pretty much,”

“Oh!” Olivia approached it, fascinated, leaning over to look in the tub. She turned the levers, but no water came out. “There’s no water!”

“Yeah, it ain’t hooked up,” Scout explained, checking the cabinets. “Aw, sweet! Someone left something in here!” he fished it out, only to make a face. “Ugh, never-mind. It’s someone’s stupid pamphlet thing from…the ‘Sculptor’s Clayground’? Huh,”

Olivia wandered over to another model, seeing a beautiful clawfoot tub. All of a sudden, she had the urge to climb into it, and without thinking about it she clambered inside sat down.

Scout noticed, and he laughed, leaning in to look. “There ya go! I wonder if you could hide in here…you’re small enough, ain’t ya?”

Olivia made herself as small as possible, but she suddenly laughed, imagining surprising someone like this by hiding in the tub. She’d never considered doing something like that before, but it felt very exciting somehow.

Before Scout could see if she could fit in another model tub, a voice from several feet away barked, “Hey! What are you doing!?”

Olivia sat up in time to see a woman in an employee’s uniform walking up to them, and Scout immediately became defensive. “Hey, hey, we’re just playin’ around, lady!”

“I’ll say,” the woman sighed, gesturing for Scout and Olivia to leave. “This isn’t a playground. Please just take your daughter and move along,”

Olivia paused, looking to Scout in confusion. “Daughter?”

Scout’s eyes widened, and he suddenly appeared offended, scooping Olivia up and setting her down. “I am not her dad!” he exclaimed, before taking Olivia’s hand and briskly leading her away from the models, leaving the employee very confused.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olivia finds a stuffed animal but also encounters a weirdo.

_She was always hurting. She was always sick, in pain, with every part of her body screaming in agony. Her head throbbed, and her eyes burned with tears so often she preferred to keep them closed, submerging her in darkness. What made it even worse was that she was all alone – somehow, pain seemed more bearable when someone else was there, comforting her. But, at this moment, there was no one.  
Until the door opened.  
Young Helen lifted her head in the direction of the sound, still quivering from pain. She knew it was her father before she even saw him, and when he sat down on her bed beside her, she reached for him right away, whimpering.  
“Shh,” he hushed her softly, pulling her into his arms. He was not a very big or strong man, but when he held her, he was the strongest man she knew.  
Helen melted into his embrace as he stroked her hair, her sobs slowly fading off. He brushed the tears away from her cheeks, soothing her with, “I told you I would come back, my angelfish…I know it hurts,”  
Her father eventually laid down next to her, holding her close and pulling the blanket over her shoulders. She curled towards his warmth, breathing in his scent and closing her eyes.  
“My little darling,” he crooned, touching her feverish forehead before planting a kiss there. “I’m so sorry you have to go through this…if I could take on the pain for you, I would,”  
Though Helen was still in pain, having her father there was the best comfort she could have asked for. As she began to drift off to sleep in his arms, she could hear him singing softly to her:  
“O bonny Portmore, I am sorry to see  
Such a woeful destruction of your ornament tree.  
For it stood on your shore for many's the long day  
Till the long boats from Antrim came to float it away.  
O bonny Portmore, you shine where you stand,  
And the more I think on you the more I think long.  
If I had you now as I had once before,  
All the lords in Old England would not purchase Portmore…”_

“Helen? Hey, are you okay?”

Helen opened her eyes, finding herself back in the present. She wasn’t a child anymore and her father was gone, long gone. She sat up slowly, blinking. “Who is it? Who’s there?”

“It’s me,” Miss Pauling sat down on the edge of the bed, shifting closer to Helen. “It’s almost noon, you’ve been in bed a really long time…are you all right?”

“Noon? Oh, my goodness…” Helen shook a hand through her hair, fluffing it up. “I had no idea. What are the men doing?”

“Not much for now, a couple of them went shopping,” Miss Pauling replied. “The others are wondering if you have any jobs for them today,”

“Well,” Helen got up out of bed, going to the mirror to fix her hair. “At the moment? There is not much they have to worry about, but if Saxton Hale still cannot arrive for the signing, we will send the mercenaries to collect him,” she turned around to look at Pauling again. “Has Hale called at all?”

“Not yet,” Pauling sighed. “I tried calling him, but there was no answer. I hope he and Bidwell are okay…”

“Hm,” Helen pursed her lips together. “We’ll just have to wait for now…though, rest assured, the signing must happen,”

“Right, yeah,” Pauling nodded. After a moment, she asked, “Hey, Helen? About Olivia – are you gonna tell her about…you know…”

“Why should I?” Helen’s voice lowered as she shrugged her bathrobe on. “She doesn’t have to know,”

“I know she doesn’t have to,” Pauling assured, though she stood up, gently brushing her hand against Helen’s shoulder. “But wouldn’t it be good for her to know, at some point? Maybe not now, but in the future?”

Helen went quiet again, and she grasped Pauling’s hand in her own, just for a few seconds. “We will see,” she cleared her throat, going to the door. “I need coffee,”

“Okay,” Pauling watched her open the door and head out into the hallway, before she followed after her.

Yet when Helen was downstairs, Spy stepped out from behind the corner and stopped Miss Pauling, pulling her towards him a little. “Miss Pauling, may I speak with you?

“Oh,” Pauling blinked, turning to face him. “Yeah, sure. What do you need?”

Spy took a breath. “Well, I meant to inquire about Olivia. Tell me: what is going to happen with her once the signing takes place?”

Pauling gave a little half-shrug. “Helen’s still working that out, but believe me, Olivia’s gonna be okay,”

“I see…” Spy didn’t quite believe her, but he continued to press. “Is Helen planning on adopting her? Or some such thing?”

Miss Pauling bristled visibly at that, though she maintained her composure. “Why do you wanna know?”

“I’m asking because I’m concerned for Olivia,” Spy dropped the volume of his voice, making sure only Miss Pauling could hear. “Now, you know I’m not one to jump to conclusions, but Helen has never been the parent type from what I can tell. Why would she be interested in adopting her?”

Miss Pauling took a step back, very annoyed but also somewhat anxious at this point. “Spy, look—that isn’t important right now. All you need to know is that we’re gonna handle everything and Olivia is gonna be fine, okay?”

As Spy looked at her, he could see in her eyes that she was hiding something. Though what, he didn’t know. He tried again. “You don’t have to defend her, you know,”

Pauling groaned, rubbing her temples. “Spy…Spy, I’m not—”

Just then, the downstairs phone began ringing, and Pauling perked back up. “Oh, that must be Saxton! Be right back,”

As she hurried downstairs to the phone, Spy watched her go, feeling uneasy and frustrated. He had to find some way to crack her, some way to get her to admit to what was going on…although she was so loyal to Helen, it seemed unlikely. However, Spy knew from his life experiences that even the toughest people have weak spots that will get them to reveal information of any kind, and with Miss Pauling, he knew it would be hard but he would find a weak spot in her shell. For Olivia’s sake, not for his.

At the same time, Olivia had wandered away from Scout at the store when he became distracted by a rack of sport equipment, and though she only went a few feet she soon discovered the toy section.

Her father had always discouraged her from buying toys, but she had never really been interested in them anyhow. Yet as she approached the shelf of stuffed animals, she suddenly realized that she did want one. A voice in her mind told her that they were ‘infantile’ things, as her father would always tell her, and she didn’t need one, though she pushed that back and walked right up to look through the stuffed animals.

At first, she didn’t understand what the appeal to them was. They were just animals made from fabric, there wasn’t anything terribly special or interesting about them. But then she touched one – it was so soft, softer than anything she’d touched, and it had a light yet pleasing weight to it. The animal in question was a little black cat with a blue ribbon around its neck, and she picked it up to get a better look at it.

The cat was very simple-looking, but its eyes were a bright shade of blue. Olivia smiled a little, enjoying the appearance, and she suddenly felt very drawn to the little cat. Yet it was right then that someone approached her.

“Those are nice toys,” a man’s voice said, and Olivia turned around in surprise.

There stood an older man, tall yet slightly hunched over with a thin scar crossing his forehead. Olivia didn’t recognize him at all, and she suddenly began to feel very nervous.

“Yeah,” was all Olivia could reply with, squeezing the cat tighter, really without thinking about it.

The man stooped down lower, his body appearing crooked as she did so. “Are you all by yourself? Where is your dad?”

Olivia took a step back, feeling more and more nervous. She didn’t know what to say or even what to do, but before she could even think of an answer, he stepped even closer. “It’s all right,” he said. “You can trust me, Miss Mann,”

Without even thinking, Olivia looked to her left for whatever was next to her, and when she spotted a tennis racket, she snatched it up and whacked the man across the face with it. He let out a shriek, stumbling back and yelling, “Aw, God, you little shit!”

Olivia began to wonder if he would attempt to attack her after she’d hit him, so she raised the tennis racket again, taking another step towards him, filled with near-murderous rage all of the sudden.

Right then, though, Sniper swooped in, snatching Olivia up and prying the tennis racket away from her and throwing it back towards the bin it had come from.

“There you are!” Sniper exclaimed. “We’ve been looking all over for you!”

Olivia squirmed in his grip, shrieking, “That guy was being weird to me! And he said a swear!”

The man recovered from the blow, but he looked up at Sniper, confusion crossing his expression. “Who the hell are you?”

Sniper looked over his shoulder at the man, squinting. “Huh?”

“Where is Gray?” the man asked, seemingly reaching for Olivia.

Sniper stepped away, getting an uneasy feeling. “What the…? Hey, piss off! Don’t approach lil’ kids like that, you bloody weirdo!”

As Sniper got away from the situation as quick as he could, Olivia calmed down somewhat. Once they were a safe enough distance away, he set her back down, and that was when he noticed the cat.

“Hey, you found a stuffy?” Sniper pointed out. “It’s very nice,”

“Oh,” Olivia had forgotten she was even still holding it. She felt it in her hands, looking back up at Sniper. “Yeah, it’s a cat – who was that guy?”

“I dunno,” Sniper plucked the cat out of her hands, carefully leading her to the checkout area. “But if he ever bothers you again, best believe we’re gonna keep you safe,”

“Okay…” Olivia stared at the stuffed cat in Sniper hands as they approached the register. “What are you gonna do with that?”

“I’m gonna pay for it for you,” Sniper replied, shrugging. “After I do, we can meet back up with Engie and Scout and head on back. Sound good?”

Olivia nodded. “Okay. Yeah, that’s good,” she looked back up at Sniper, watching him as he got his wallet out of his pocket to make sure he had cash on him. The memory of what had just happened in the toy isle crossed her mind, and she shuddered, trying to block it out while standing closer to Sniper.

Sniper noticed, and he took a moment to reach down with a free hand, unsure of how to comfort her but just patting her head for now.

“It’s okay.” He assured her, and although Olivia still felt nervous, the sound of his voice and the tiny gesture of affection made her feel more secure.


	10. Chapter 10

“What’s the cat’s name, anyway?” Scout wanted to know, fiddling with his seatbelt as he watched Olivia smooth her hands all over the toy cat. “Did ya give it one?”

Olivia shrugged, looking back out the window. “I dunno yet…” she looked back down at the cat, smiling again, the situation at the store mostly forgotten for now.

Engineer pulled into the dirt driveway, heading up the garage and parking. He let out a sigh as soon as they were parked, and he undid his seatbelt. “Finally, home again. I’m real hungry, anyone want lunch?”

“Yeah, sure!” Olivia piped up, quickly getting rid of her seatbelt and opening the door.

Sniper offered to help her out of the car, but she assured him she could do it herself. Everything seemed fine as the four headed inside, but the moment they set foot in the threshold, Miss Pauling approached.

“Thank god, you’re back,” she spoke hastily, ushering the mercenaries as well as Olivia all the way inside and shutting the door. “Guys, it’s time for a meeting,”

“Meeting?” Engineer raised an eyebrow. “No one said anything about meetings!”

“Well, it’s important,” Miss Pauling then turned to Olivia, gesturing to the stairs. “Hey, how about you go upstairs? This is a grown-up meeting, okay?”

Olivia frowned, sticking her chin out defiantly. “I go to grown-up meetings! Daddy takes me to them, and when the guys don’t listen to him, he—!”

Before she could finish her thought, the Administrator appeared in the doorway. “Olivia, go upstairs this instant,” she spoke quietly, but she was firm enough to silence Olivia.

Olivia toyed around with the cat in her hands, staring at her feet. Sniper nudged her gently. “Best listen to her,” he whispered.

“Fine,” Olivia decided after a moment, turning on her heel and heading up the stairs.

Once she was up in her attic room, she set the cat down on the shelf above her bed, making sure the spot on the shelf was properly dusted off. She then noticed the heating grate by the bed, and as she leaned close to it, she could vaguely make out the sounds of voices from downstairs.

Olivia climbed down onto the floor, kneeling beside the grate and putting her ear against it to listen. She wanted to know what this meeting was all about – she didn’t have a reason why, she just enjoyed knowing things.

Down in the study, Miss Pauling had all the mercenaries sit down while the Administrator stood at the front of the room, an unreadable expression in her eyes. This whole situation was unusual: whenever the mercenaries had meetings, the Administrator usually kept a great deal of distance from them, or sometimes she was not even there at all. Today, though, she was within just a few feet of them, and somehow this felt very strange to the men.

As soon as everyone was seated, Helen cleared her throat and began speaking. “Hello, everyone,” she greeted. “As you may know, this house is where we will be staying until Saxton Hale arranges to have us moved back to a regular base. Initially, I was not planning to put you to use, but something has happened, and now your skills are needed,”

Spy blew on his cigarette, observing Helen’s face when she talked. “And what has happened?”

The Administrator and Miss Pauling exchanged a look from across the room, before the Administrator went on. “The bit of Australium which was launched into space and lost is not lost after all,”

A gasp rippled through the mercenaries as this information sunk in. Sniper tensed, and from beside him, Demoman noticed and put a gentle hand on his arm.

“So,” Medic spoke up from where he was seated. “What does this mean, exactly? You said it was in space, how was it found again?”

The Administrator took a breath. “Well – the spaceship carrying it wound up colliding with a satellite station. However, this wasn’t just any satellite station,”

As the mercenaries listened carefully, Helen went on to explain, “That station belonged to Security Republic, a lucrative security camera chain. They also have their own television channel, which I assume is what the station is for.”

“Wait just a minute,” Engineer spoke up, his brow furrowing. “Security Republic? Weren’t they the company that helped with Mann Co.’s original security camera installation way back in the day?”

“That they are,” the Administrator confirmed with a nod. “Our partnership with them ended many years ago after a new CEO took over. All you need to know about this new CEO is that his name is Phoenix Sage, and his history with Mann Co. is…” she grimaced a bit. “Unpleasant, to say the least. He is now in possession of the Australium, but he is holding it for ransom. The only way we can get it from him is by paying whatever amount of money he decides it’s worth. Or, we could just take it by force, although this is one situation where I would like to avoid doing so,”

“You want us to pay money?” Heavy frowned. “Not kill men, but pay money?”

“Not quite,” Helen corrected him. “Saxton Hale has already agreed to pay the ransom. Now, under normal circumstances, I might not even need to include any of you in this, but considering this is Phoenix Sage we’re talking about, we will definitely need some of you as backup for Hale…”

Scout snorted. “Why’s that? Is this Sage guy real strong or something? I bet any of us could take ‘em!”

Helen just rolled her eyes. “Please, its far more complicated than that. The man is a master manipulator – not only is he physically capable of combat, he is mentally capable as well,” she cleared her throat again. “Now, I’ve made a list of who should go with Hale to face Sage, and…”

“Oi, Administrator?” Sniper interrupted, raising his hand to get her attention. “Ma’am—sorry to interrupt, but…I-I was wondering, did they say anything about…someone being on the ship? Like, was there anyone on the ship with the Australium?”

The room became very still. Miss Pauling sighed from where she was standing at the back of the room. “Oh, Sniper…”

“They did not mention anyone,” the Administrator replied after a moment. “But I’m sending you over there with Hale, so you can ask when you get there,” she pulled out a list from a binder and continued. “Going with him are Engineer, Soldier and Heavy. The rest of you are permitted to stay here, but be on alert just in case something goes wrong and Hale needs more backup, agreed?”

The mercenaries agreed, and they began to go their separate ways. Those who had been called gathered their supplies, knowing they had to be ready for anything.

“Yo, Snipes?” Scout approached Sniper as the older man was loading a bag with containers of extra bullets. “You doin’ okay?”

Sniper was quiet as he checked his supplies again. “Yeah, I’ll be okay. It’s just…” he sighed, turning around to look at Scout. “Did the others tell you about what happened, when that spaceship full of Australium got launched?”

When Scout shook his head, Sniper clarified, “Well, it just so happened my…” he paused, composing himself, taking a breath. “It just so happened my biological mum was on that ship,”

Scout’s eyes widened. “Dude, for real? Damn…so, like, is she alive or…?”

Demoman stepped in. “Laddie, its best if you don’t upset him more,” he turned back to Sniper, patting his shoulder. “No matter what happens, we’re gonna be here for you, lad. I promise,”

Sniper nodded, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “Thank you,” he murmured, squeezing Tavish’s hand a little before turning and heading for the door.

As Sniper, Heavy, Engineer and Soldier all piled up into Sniper’s van, Olivia headed back down the stairs.

“Where are they going?” she wanted to know as she walked up to Demo.

“They gotta get some work done,” Demoman explained. “But they’ll be back soon, all right?”

Olivia watched through the window as the van pulled out of the driveway and headed back down the road, driving away. “All right…”

Scout cleared his throat, wanting to ease the tension. “Hey, how about we get some lunch?”

Before anyone could agree to anything, Miss Pauling called from the other room, “Olivia, can we see you for a second?”

“Oh…okay,” Olivia smoothed her skirt out, heading on into the library, where Miss Pauling and the Administrator were waiting.

“Olivia, please sit down,” Helen pulled up a chair, motioning for the girl to sit. When she did, Helen began, “Saxton Hale will arrive tonight once everything has been taken care of. When he does, the signing will take place, and you will sign over the rights of Mann Co. to him for good. Do you understand?”

Olivia looked down at her hands, not answering for a moment. Helen asked again, “Do you understand, Olivia?”

“I don’t wanna do it,” Olivia murmured, hugging her arms, closing in on herself. It would all be over then—the life she had wanted and had been promised would be gone, along with her father.

Miss Pauling sighed, though Helen remained firm. “I know you don’t, but you must. I’m afraid you don’t have a choice,”

When Olivia still didn’t look up, Helen stepped forward, brushing the girl’s hair out of her face like she had done on the first day. As Olivia tilted her head up to look at Helen, the woman paused her actions, pulling her hand back. “All you have to do is sign, little one,”

Miss Pauling watched the interaction from where she stood, feeling her heart ache. It had to be done, Olivia couldn’t have this company in her hands, not with the direction her father had given her. Except now, with company ownership out of the way, Olivia would be placed in new hands: Helen’s hands.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The introduction of Phoenix Sage.

The Security Republic Estate didn’t look at all like it belonged to a company that specialized in security cameras, of all things.

The place looked as though it could have been a shopping mall, it was about as big and likely twice as wide. Was it an office? A place for living? For parties? From what Engineer knew, it was both, and much more. He also knew that only a portion of Phoenix Sage’s funds came from the cameras themselves, most of it came from the TV channels Sage also owned. The rest of it came from…well, that was up for debate.

Sniper parked the van in the long stretch of parking lot out front, and as he looked out the window, he saw a truck coming.

“Hale’s here,” he announced, unbuckling his seatbelt. His hands were jittery, though he tried his best not to show it.

Sure enough, Saxton Hale and Bidwell had both arrived. As soon as the present mercenaries met up with the two, Hale began speaking.

“All right!” he announced. “Good afternoon – let me explain how this is going to happen: we’re going to get that Australium in any way we can, and then we’ll get right out of here!”

Engineer nodded, but he asked, “By ‘any way we can’, you mean…?”

“He means violence,” Bidwell clarified, before giving Hale a look of annoyance. “Hale, I told you: violence is not the answer in this particular context!”

Hale just laughed. “Of course it is! Don’t be silly, Bidwell,”

Heavy’s brow creased in concern. “Thought you were going to pay ransom money.”

“Well…maybe,” Hale gave a shrug. “We’ll see how it turns out, yeah?” he suddenly pointed at Sniper. “Mundy! You wanted to speak?”

Sniper jolted a little. “Uh, no? I didn’t say anything…”

“Oh…you look nervous,” Hale commented. “Why the jitters, mate?”

“Nothing,” Sniper cleared his throat, slinging his gun over his shoulder. “I was just, uh…curious: did they mention anything about a person being on board the rocket when it…?”

Hale’s mouth screwed up in thought. “Hm…no, not that I remember. Did they mention anyone, Bidwell?”

Bidwell shook his head. “I don’t know anything about that, you’ll have to ask them.” He checked his watch. “Guys, we’re losing time, here. Let’s just…get this over with,”

They headed up the steps to the door, and Hale rung the buzzer. After a few seconds, a masculine voice filtered through.

“State your business,”

Hale took a breath. “We come from Mann Co., for a meeting with Mr. Sage!”

There was a pause, before the voice replied, “Just one moment, please,”

The door then opened automatically, and standing in the threshold was a suited security guard. The guard gestured for the group to enter, and once they did, the doors slammed shut.

“Mr. Sage’s office is on the next floor,” the guard explained, leading them down a hallway. “Don’t try and take pictures of anything,”

They took the elevator up to the office, and as they arrived to the floor, Sniper took a moment to just silently observe everything. The place was huge, and the walls had paintings hanging in several areas, but as they got closer to the office, they noticed something bizarre.

“The hell is that?” Engineer exclaimed, pointing out what looked to be a wall made entirely out of plexiglass. On the other side of the transparent wall, they could see a habitat deep within, with plants, rocks and even a shallow pool.

“Those are for Mr. Sage’s pets,” the guard replied simply. “They’re sleeping now, though. Don’t disturb them,”

Soldier leaned close to the glass to try and peek inside, but Heavy quickly pulled him away in fear of waking whatever was living inside that habitat.

They soon came to a door, and the guard knocked once.

“Come in!” came the confirmation, and the door opened.

There stood the man himself: Phoenix Sage, in all his glory. He was well-dressed, a gold medallion around his neck and a watch on his wrist. He was not a young man, but he had a youthful, boyish charm about him when he moved. He grinned a shiny, pleasing grin at his guests, welcoming them inside his spacious and lavishly decorated office.

“Welcome, my friends!” he greeted, gesturing to a few chairs he had set up. “Please, please, make yourselves comfortable. We certainly have a lot to talk about!”

While he seemed warm and friendly, this was typically not the type of situation where hospitality was common. This was a ransom deal involving Australium (and possibly a potential hostage), why on earth would Phoenix be acting so welcoming? The interaction set off Engineer’s internal alarm bells right away, and evidently Heavy’s. Neither one of them said anything, they just exchanged looks across the room.

“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sage!” Saxton Hale shook his hand firmly, acting as though they were just meeting for tea. “This is certainly a beautiful place you have here,”

“Why, thank you,” Mr. Sage replied with a nod, his voice and demeanor far too humble for a rich man. “Please, have a seat! Have a seat, and we’ll talk business,”

Soldier stepped forward, his hands balled into fists. “Sir! I request that you tell me what you have in those clear walls! The walls with windows…”

“Jane!” Engineer hissed, pulling on his clothes to get him to sit down.

Mr. Sage just laughed. “Oh, those are just some animals I care for! Nothing special…” he cleared his throat, folding his hands on the desk as he sat down and leaning across it to speak to Saxton more easily. “Now…I trust you received our call?”

“We did!” Hale confirmed. “We, uh, didn’t know you owned a space station,”

Sage laughed again, his laugh sharp and pitchy. “Ah, we keep it a little secret for the most part! Some would say its excessive for a company such as ours to own a satellite of all things…but it’s lucky we had it out there!”

Bidwell cleared his throat, before asking something that had evidently been bothering him. “Hey, how’d you know to call us about this? I mean…”

“How did I know?” Sage put a hand to his chest, feigning offense. “Why, our company used to work with Mann Co.! And we’re all very familiar with Miss Helen…” a shadow seemed to cross his face when he spoke her name, but it was gone in an instant and he was all smiles again. “If there was anyone we could give this to, it would be her and her business!”

Hale raised an eyebrow, noticing something seemed off. Still he pressed on. “Well! Before we proceed, we’d like to see the Australium. Do you have it here?”

“Of course!” Sage then rang a buzzer on his desk, and after a few minutes, the office door opened again. A woman carrying a roller suitcase entered, and she sat the suitcase down in the center of the room and gestured to it.

Bidwell frowned. “That’s it? I mean…we were led to believe that there was more,”

“This is only a fraction of it,” Sage explained. “The rest is in our warehouse. Once the deal is complete, we will help you load up your car with all of it. How does that sound?”

Hale was quiet for a few seconds, but then he shrugged. “All right. How much are you asking, mate? I can give you any amount of money,”

Sage just grinned. “Oh, it’s not money I’m looking for, Hale. Not this time,”

The whole room went quiet at that. Sage extended out his hand, motioning towards Hale with his finger in a ‘come here’ gesture. When Hale got closer, Sage leaned in and whispered into his ear.

No one else heard what Sage whispered to Saxton Hale, but whatever it was, Hale was suddenly in an enraged frenzy.

“Oh, you have got to be out of your bloody mind!” his voice thundered as he shot up out of his chair, his hands clenched into tight fists. “There is no way we are giving you that!”

“Please, Hale, be reasonable,” Sage chastised in an eerily calm voice. “Australium is so rare and finite. Do you really think I would ask for something like money in exchange for such a thing?”

Hale took a step forward, cracking his knuckles. “You know what!? Forget pleasantries! Let us settle this like men, Phoenix!”

Before Hale could even do anything, though, Sage hit another button on his desk, this one hidden somewhere beneath his desk. In an instant, the whirring of machinery and bright lights flickered throughout the room, indicating the presence of mechanics all along the walls of the office. The bookshelf behind Sage’s head flipped around, revealing itself to be a screen that showed the inside of the room they were currently in but from several different angles.

Saxton Hale took a step back, staring at the screen before looking all around the room. “What the…?”

Sage just grinned again, standing up. “They’re cameras, Mr. Hale. They record everything that goes on in this room: every meeting, every phone call, every deal…the cameras see everything, and everything is saved to an extremely intricate database,” He moved out from behind the desk, approaching Hale slowly. “If you were to attack me, the cameras record you doing it,”

“So, what!?” Hale snorted. “We can destroy them! We can…” He looked around, realizing that the cameras themselves were not visible, so he tried to look to the screen to figure out where each one was.

“Even if you find them,” Sage cut in, getting Hale’s attention again. “They are virtually indestructible. They are water resistant, heat resistant, and the metals they are made of are so strong that it is near impossible to crush them,” he walked closer to Hale, a smirk on his face. “If you are caught on camera attacking me, the footage will be released to every news media outlet you can imagine. The whole country will see you attacking me, and not only that: we can leak any and all information we have on Mann Co.’s inner workings to those same media outlets,”

“You can’t do that!” Engineer blurted out, standing up and clenching his fist.

“Oh, but I can! And I will,” Sage grinned again, looking back up at Hale. “What’ll it be, Hale?”

Saxton Hale stood there, twitching, wanting to attack Sage and break his scrawny neck. After a moment, he spoke again, though his voice was hushed. “What you’re asking for is something I can’t exactly just hand over!”

Sage just waved him off. “Please, I have time. I can keep the Australium here for as long as necessary,”

Hale exchanged a look with Bidwell, one which cemented that both of them were on the same page: there was no way they could trust that Sage would be patient and keep the Australium just for them during an extended period of time. Hale looked back at Sage, his nostril’s flaring as the gears turned in his mind.

“Here’s what we’ll do,” he decided after a moment. “We give you money up front for now, and then you give us whatever’s in that suitcase,”

Sage pursed his lips together. “How much money?”

“One million,” Hale affirmed. “One million dollars for that suitcase!”

Sage shook his head. “Two million!”

“Fine!” Hale gestured to Bidwell. “Checkbook, please!”

Bidwell produced said checkbook, and Hale snatched up a check and scribbled out the necessary information. He placed the check in Sage’s hand. “Here,”

Sage examined the check, before he pocketed it. “This will suffice. Take the suitcase, but that is all you get,”

As Saxton picked up the suitcase in one hand, Sage called back out to him, “Oh, but Saxton?” when Saxton turned around to look at him, Sage just smirked. “Helen will be wanting the other portion…you will have to get it for her. Won’t you?”

Saxton’s eye twitched, pure hatred etched on his face. “Later,” he replied through gritted teeth. “Lets get out of here,”

“That was it?” Soldier huffed, visibly annoyed.

“Be thankful it was not worse,” Heavy advised, clapping his hand on Soldier’s shoulder, and gently pushing him towards the door.

However, Sniper wasn’t done. He swallowed and cleared his throat, calling out, “Mr. Sage? Sir?”

Mr. Sage looked back at Sniper, raising an eyebrow. “What do you want, strange tall man?”

“Oh! Um…” Sniper felt uncomfortable making eye contact all of the sudden, but he pressed through it the best he could. “When you…when you got the Australium, was there anyone on board that ship?”

Sage’s brow furrowed. “Why?”

“Because…” Sniper took a breath. “My mother was on there. I-It’s a long story, but –”

“That’s who that is?” Sage asked, surprised. “Goodness, we thought she was a Mann Co. hostage! She’s been terrorizing us for the past week, I’ve been keeping her in one of my spare bedrooms!”

“Really!?” Sniper’s heart started pounding. “So she’s alive!?”

“Yes!” Sage nodded. “Thank god you’re here, you can take her off our hands!”

Before Sniper could reply, Sage took him by the arm and briskly led him out into the hallway, heading to the elevator. “Right this way! I’m borrowing your scary friend for a moment, Hale, I will return him to you shortly!”

As a bewildered Sniper disappeared into the elevator with Phoenix Sage, Engineer took the moment to pull Hale aside.

“Saxton, hey: look at me,” Engineer grabbed his hand, staring up into the other man’s face. “What did he want? What did he ask for?”

Hale let out a long sigh, looking away again. “Something we may not be able to refuse…”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olivia signs a contract.

Olivia awoke on the living room carpet, of all places. She panicked for a brief moment, as she couldn’t figure out where she was at first, but then she remembered that she’d sat down there to watch TV earlier.

She sat up, looking around, rubbing her eyes. Behind her, Demoman and Zhanna sat on the couch, watching a news channel of some kind.

Zhanna noticed that Olivia had woken up, and she remarked, “You are awake, little girl. TV must be very boring for you,”

Olivia couldn’t even recall what she had been watching before she dozed off. She rubbed her eye again, shrugging. “I dunno,” she then noticed the shirt Zhanna was wearing: it was a long t-shirt, with an American flag printed on it. The words, ‘I’m American and I’m not going anywhere’ were printed right beneath it. “What’s that shirt?”

“This? Is Jane’s shirt,” Zhanna replied gleefully. “I steal it!”

On the TV, a news anchor announced, “We now turn to an interview with Stacy Bartlet, the Florida woman who claims she has three breasts!”

Demoman quickly changed the channel, grunting. “Och, bloody stupid American television…” he smiled back at Olivia, patting the spot on the couch. “Ye don’t have to sit on the floor! Come sit with us, lass…sorry we didn’t wake ye up, we didn’t know if ye usually slept on the floor or what,”

Olivia got up off the floor, hoisting herself onto the couch and sitting beside Demo. “Sometimes I sleep in the hallway of my house. When my daddy gets ready and takes a shower in the morning, I like to sleep and wait for him in the hall outside the bathroom,”

Demo’s smile faltered a little as he realized Olivia was still speaking about her father in the present tense, but he didn’t correct her. “Aye. Is it comfortable?”

“I guess,” Olivia frowned, noticing her hair had gotten messy as a result of her impromptu nap. “But daddy says not to do it anymore…”

Zhanna reached over, smoothing Olivia’s hair down with her hand. “Messy, messy,” she chided, clicking her tongue. Olivia startled at the touch, since Zhanna was a bit rough when she did that. As Zhanna sat back down again, Olivia realized the rag that had been tied up around Zhanna’s wrist was now replaced with a clean bandage.

Demo glanced at the clock on the wall, frowning. “Hell, it’s gettin’ late…where’s the other blokes? They should be back by now…”

“If they are kidnapped, we will save them,” Zhanna stated. “I will break spine of any man who hurts Jane or Misha,”

Olivia sat up taller, surprised. “Whoa, you can do that?”

Before Zhanna could answer, a car pulled into the driveway outside. Demo noticed, and he announced, “Hale’s here!”

Olivia’s heart sank as she realized what this meant: she was going to be expected to sign Mann Co. over to Hale. Not wanting to face or think about that, she grabbed a throw pillow, placing it over her face to mask herself in darkness again.

Miss Pauling walked in, glancing through the window. “Oh, yeah—he’s here,” she reached down, carefully nudging the pillow away from Olivia. “Hey, it’s time,”

Olivia lowered the pillow, glaring up silently at Miss Pauling. Miss Pauling sighed, setting the pillow down. “Look, it’s gonna be okay,”

Demo placed a hand on Olivia’s back, encouraging her, “Ye better do it, lass…it’s what’s best,”

She stared at her shoes, before she slipped off the couch and followed Miss Pauling into the other room.

Saxton Hale entered the house, his presence filling up the whole area the moment he stepped in. Behind him, Bidwell carried the suitcase, and Miss Pauling quickly ushered the two of them into the study.

Helen was already at the table, and she stood up when the two men entered. Her eyes focused directly on the suitcase, and she gestured for it to be brought closer to her.

“Is that all of it?” she asked, watching as Bidwell sat it down on the table. Her voice sounded anxious, although her face remained composed.

“Well…no,” Saxton confessed. “Sage had more,”

Helen raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And where is that, pray tell?”

“He was only willing to give it to us for an extra price…”

“And what was that price, Hale? Was it too high?”

Hale took a breath, before he leaned in and whispered it into Helen’s ear. Helen was quiet for a long moment, until she cleared her throat.

“I see…” Helen’s eye twitched. “I suppose I will have to have a meeting with Mr. Sage, won’t I?” she looked back at the suitcase, putting her hand on it. She undid the zipper in a very slow and deliberate matter, and instantly she felt the very presence of the Australium. She closed her eyes in reverence, basking in the feeling just a touch of it gave her. Very little in her life would ever replace what she felt in the presence of this substance…

Helen blinked, straightening up once more and clearing her throat. She pushed the suitcase in Miss Pauling’s direction, advising her, “Put this somewhere safe,”

“Yes, ma’am,” Miss Pauling replied, standing up and going to the door, carrying the suitcase under her arm.

The door closed, and Helen turned to look at Olivia, who had been sitting quietly beside her. They locked eyes for a moment, and for a few seconds, Helen actually felt a flash of guilt for what she was about to take away from this child. But it did not last long at all, as she knew that this was the best decision for Olivia…and for the company, of course.

Bidwell laid out the official document and a pen, pushing it towards Olivia. “Here: read it through as best as you can and sign on the line below,”

Olivia did try to read the document. She could read, she knew how, but her father had always handled documents like these. She barely knew what half of the words on the paper even meant.

She looked back up at Hale, a glimmer of malice in her eyes. “Can I fight you again? That was better last time,”

Helen cut in right before Hale could even answer. “There will be no fighting, Olivia. Just sign,”

Olivia stared back down at the line, feeling very uncomfortable. All the adults were watching her, waiting for her to give up her birthright to them…she didn’t quite know what ‘birthright’ meant, her father had just told her it was what Mann Co. was for her.

“Sign,” Helen repeated, her voice firmer than before. “Your first name, middle name, and last name,”

Olivia fumbled with the pen in her hand, starting to slowly write her name. Her hand was shaky, and the letters looked as though they were trembling.

She hardly registered writing her last name down; it was as if she blinked and then ‘Olivia Violet Mann’ was scribbled on the blank line. Hale tugged the contract away from her once she signed, and he signed his own name under hers.

“Yes!” he exclaimed once the deed had been done, and he shook hands with Bidwell. “Finally! Business as usual!”

Helen stood up, lighting a cigarette. “Good, yes…now that we have this out of the way, we can focus on more important matters…” she turned to look at Olivia, watching her expression.

Olivia just sat there blankly. She knew her father had died, everyone had told her that, but it hadn’t sunk in until this moment. He was never coming back, she was never going to be in her old house again, and she was never going to achieve all the things her father had said she would. He’d always told her she was destined for great things, that was why he schooled and taught her all on his own, so she could one day take his place. All those dreams, and him – he may not have hugged her often, and he may not have even told her he loved her, but he had been all she knew for so long. Her world had been torn away from her fingers, and without her father, she didn’t know how she would ever get it back again. Perhaps she never would.

Helen’s voice cut through Olivia’s thoughts. “Olivia?”

When Olivia felt Helen trying to touch her hair, she lost it. Olivia burst into tears, smacking Helen’s hand away and running away, wanting to get out of the room as quickly as possible.

She ran right past Miss Pauling, nearly smacking into her, and she completely ignored Pauling’s attempts to make sure she was all right.

Olivia wanted to run away from this place. She wanted to leave – she didn’t know how, but she would do it. Maybe she would find Belicia and live with her, or maybe she could find one of the men her father had worked with…

She collapsed outside in the dirt path leading up to the house, where she sobbed again, her hands and face covered in dirt and dust. She could not care less about that, though, and she wailed and sobbed, burying her face in her small hands.

It was then, though, that the van pulled up. Olivia looked up, trying to brush away the tears that were stinging her eyes as the van parked outside. She watched as the passenger side door opened, and Heavy stepped out, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

Heavy looked up towards the house, where he noticed Olivia sitting in the dirt, tears rolling down her cheeks. He became filled with concern, and he walked up the path, coming to meet her. “Little Olivia?”

Olivia wiped her eyes, smearing the tears and dirt across her face, and she stood up as Heavy got closer. He knelt beside her; his brow furrowed in concern. “You are crying…why cry?”

Olivia couldn’t answer, and she could only whimper instead, another tear rolling down her cheek. Heavy sighed, pulling her up into his arms and holding her close. “Is okay…shh, is okay,”

He was so gentle for such a big man, and Olivia could only bury her face into his shoulder, her hands gripping his shirt like a lifeline. As he held her, she started to feel better, and she wondered if maybe she didn’t have to run away after all.

“Hey!” Engineer called out from where he stood by the van, noticing what was going on. “Everything okay over there?”

Heavy stepped back towards the van, nodding, Olivia still in his arms. “Yes. Little Olivia is sad,”

Engineer knew why, as Saxton had mentioned to him what was going to happen. Still, he tried to comfort Olivia, clearing his throat. “Hey, it’s gonna be okay, sweet pea…you got us here, okay? Now how about we go inside, and I can fix you some nice French toast? That sound good?”

“Yeah, chin up!” Soldier encouraged as he stepped out of the car. “You’re strong, so strong!”

Olivia did not answer, but when she looked towards the van again, something caught her eye. Sniper was getting out of the van, yet it looked as though he was talking to someone. There was a bit of shuffling from inside the vehicle, before a woman Olivia had never seen before stepped out. She was very skinny, her glasses were cracked in two places, and she was wrapped up in Sniper’s vest like it was a shawl. Her eyes scanned the territory, before she noticed Olivia.

“Whose child is that?” the woman asked, looking at Sniper. “Yours?”

“No!” Sniper clarified. “No—this is Olivia. Olivia, this is my, uh…” he hesitated. “This is my mum,”

Olivia sniffled, wiping her eyes with her dirty hands. She felt disgusting, and she couldn’t even say hello back.

Engineer decided to break the silence. “All right, well! Mundy, I’m sure your mom must be hungry, and Olivia? You could use a bath, probably…”

Heavy carried Olivia back up towards the house, and as Olivia looked up at the sky, she could see the clouds gathering, likely preparing for some storms later on.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olivia sees a ghost.

The feeling of the bathmat was a type of comfort that one would normally avoid, but Olivia welcomed it as she lay against the bathroom floor. Her fingers, with dirt gathered beneath the nails, picked at the edge of the mat while the water ran in the tub beside her.

Olivia was supposed to be showering, but she could not bring herself to do so. She felt stuck, she felt numb, she felt…empty. She felt as though she had been gutted, like a teddy bear being emptied of its stuffing. It was as if, at any moment, she could look down and see her feelings laying on the floor, heavy yet fluffy as cotton.

Still, the tears wouldn’t stop. Olivia pulled down the towel from the nearest towel rack and wrapped it around herself, sniffling. She closed her eyes, aching like she’d never ached before.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Scout’s voice came hollering, “Hey, kid! Ya still in there? You’re gonna waste all the hot water!”

Olivia did not want to yell, but she did. “Go away!” she shrieked, coiling the towel around herself even tighter.

She thought Scout would leave, but much to her alarm, the door swiftly opened. “Are you talkin’ to me!?” Scout raised his voice, poking his head in the doorway. “Oh, don’t you dare take that tone with me, you—” he stopped, seeing that Olivia was not actually in the shower, but instead fully-clothed and wrapped in a towel.

Scout saw the tears in her eyes, and he felt bad for yelling. He swallowed, stepping in and sitting beside her. “Hey, kid…are you okay?”

Olivia wiped her eyes roughly, sniffling miserably. “No.”

Scout went quiet, staying still beside her. After a moment, he rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. “You wanna…you wanna talk about it?”

Olivia hugged her knees in, pulling the towel tighter around herself. “T-they made me sign away the company today,”

Scout frowned. “Oh…aw, hey, I’m sorry about that…”

“They don’t care what I want!” Olivia’s voice pitched as she sobbed some more. “No one said I could have what I want, no one asked…”

“Hey, hey,” Scout hesitated, before placing a hand on her shoulder. “Look, I’m sorry…that happens a lot when you’re a kid,”

Olivia buried her face into her knees, whining a long, muffled whine. Scout sighed, his hand staying on her shoulder as he was unsure of how else to comfort her.

When she calmed somewhat, Scout asked, “Hey, kid…can I ask you somethin’?”

Olivia looked up, her eyes reddened and still brimming with tears. “Huh?”

“Why’d you want the company in the first place?” Scout questioned. “I mean…you’re a kid. What’s a kid like you want with a company?”

Olivia wiped her eyes, sitting up. “It’s my birthright. Daddy said so,”

“Well, yeah, but…” Scout shrugged. “Was that somethin’ you wanted to do?”

“Well…” Olivia trailed off, and she suddenly realized she didn’t have answer. She wanted it because it was something that was expected of her…for as long as she could remember, her father had always been there, reminding her what her destiny was and what she was being trained to do. “My…my daddy wanted it,”

Scout huffed. “Aw, come on, kid. Just ‘cause your dad wanted it doesn’t mean that’s what you gotta be. My ma wanted me to go to college, but that didn’t happen. And ya know what? She’s still real proud of me,” a thought then crossed his mind, and he tilted his head. “Hey - what ever happened to your ma? I’ve heard a lot about your dad, but I’ve never seen your ma,”

Olivia dried her eyes on the towel. “I don’t have a mother,”

“No?” Scout blinked. “Uh…what happened? Do you know?”

Olivia didn’t look up. “Daddy said she didn’t want me,”

“…oh,” Scout’s heart sank, and he squirmed nervously, unsure of how to respond to such an answer.

Just then, the squeaking of boots approached, and Pyro appeared and stood in the doorway, staring at Scout and Olivia silently. They clutched a paper bag in their hand, the sound of their breaths wheezing through the mask.

Scout noticed them, and he froze. “Uh…hey, buddy. Ya need somethin’?”

Pyro responded with a mumbled, muffled answer, and they held up the bag, gesturing at Olivia. Olivia felt confused, though she wasn’t afraid of Pyro, and she sat up taller. “What?”

Pyro walked into the bathroom and opened the bag, digging their hand inside. They pulled out a bright yellow rubber duck, which they handed to Olivia.

“Oh! Hey, that’s pretty cool of you, Pyro!” Scout praised, relieved that it hadn’t been something bad. “You ever have a rubber duck before?”

“No,” Olivia turned the little duck over in her hands, staring at its face. Like the stuffed cat she had gotten that same day, holding it brought her comfort. She pressed it close to her chest, looking up at Pyro. “Thanks,” she replied softly, staring up at the black-rimmed goggles of Pyro’s mask. She wondered why they never took it off, or if they even had a face underneath it.

Pleased that she had accepted the gift, Pyro knelt down and patted Olivia’s head with a light hand. They mumbled something to her, before standing back up and heading out of the bathroom.

Once Pyro had left, Scout remarked, “Pyro’s kinda weird sometimes, but they can be real nice,”

Olivia nodded, still staring down at the duck, her hands tracing over it lightly. “Yeah…” she looked back up at Scout, wiping an arm over her eyes. “I think I’m gonna shower, now,”

“Oh! Okay,” Scout stood up quickly. “I’ll head out then. See you at dinner, kid,”

When he left and the door closed behind him, Olivia was alone again. She was still sad, but there was a flicker of joy deep inside her. She felt more comfortable somehow, more at home…this wasn’t her home, it could never really be her home. But…maybe it could be. She didn’t know how long she would be here, if she would ever see her old house again. Though as she looked at the duck in her hands, the painted-on smile staring back up at her, she felt lighter and freer than she had felt within the last hour. She stood up, clutching the duck to her chest as she turned the shower on again.

As Olivia was upstairs, secluded in the bathroom, the energy downstairs was very different.

Sniper’s biological mother was going to be staying with the rest of the mercenaries. This fact had been established the moment she’d walked in, when the others took notice of her presence and Sniper had announced that he would get a space ready for her. Though the Townhouse was quite big, there wasn’t a great amount of room to spare, so the idea of yet another person staying there, especially someone with a reputation like Lar-Nah’s, was detested. Spy finally decided to confront Sniper about this, just as dinner was being prepared.

“Do you care to explain why your mother couldn’t simply go to a nursing home or some such place?” Spy asked unabashedly, cornering Sniper by the kitchen cabinets.

“Spook, come on,” Sniper pleaded. “She doesn’t have anywhere else to go! What was I gonna do, abandon her?”

“She abandoned you,” Spy pointed out. “Doing the same would be a reasonable course of action,”

Sniper huffed. “Oh, shut it. You wouldn’t be singin’ that tune if Scout abandoned you,”

Spy just stared silently at Sniper for a moment, before Sniper sighed again. “I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have brough that up,”

“No, it’s all right,” Spy assured. “Although my concern is that you’re letting her stay only because you miss the mother that raised you, so you’re going to try and use her as a replacement,”

Sniper did not look at him. “I never said that.”

“You may not have said it, but I know it’s true,” Spy asserted.

“Why do you care, anyway?” Sniper frowned, his brow furrowing. “I get being nosy is your whole thing, but…”

“I’m not allowed to care about my teammates?” Spy put a hand to his chest, feigning offense. “Besides, it isn’t just you who has to share a space with her. It’s all of us,”

Sniper looked down again, fidgeting. “Yeah. I get that…but I would just feel better if I kept her close,”

“I understand,” Spy nodded, and he cleared his throat. “Dinner should be ready any moment, it’s best if you finish settling your mother in beforehand,”

“Oh – yeah, of course,” Sniper took a breath, gathering some bottled water and toiletries from the cabinets.

Meanwhile, Olivia was getting her nightgown on upstairs as the wind began to pick up outside. It would probably storm soon, as the darkening clouds indicated. Remembering how Belicia had always closed the windows when it rained, Olivia did the same, getting up off the bed and shutting the window.

It was then, though, that Olivia caught the sight of her own reflection in the glass of the window. Normally she would not have thought much of this, but through the reflection she noticed what appeared to be a figure standing behind her, looming over her. She only saw the figure for a few seconds, but it was enough for her to let out a shriek of terror.

Olivia fell backward onto the floor, covering her eyes and pressing them shut. Just then, there was a harsh knock at the door.

“Lass! Are ye all right in there!?” Demoman’s voice came rumbling through the other side of the door.

Olivia got right up and scampered to the door, swinging it open. “Someone was in my room!” she squealed, waving her hands around. “I-I saw them in the reflection, I—”

“A ghost!?” Demoman made his way into the room, looking all around, his hands clenched into fists. He went quiet for a moment, listening, before he bellowed, “Ye don’t know who yer dealing with, spirits! If ye don’t leave this wee child alone, you will face my sword and my anger!”

Olivia hid right behind his leg, but as she watched Demoman yell at the ghosts, she couldn’t help but smile. She wasn’t sure why she was smiling, there was just something amusing about it. She giggled, though she rooted closer to his leg.

Demo looked down, and he ran his hand through Olivia’s damp hair. “I don’t see any ghosts, but if there any, you tell me! I know a thing or two about those bloody things…”

“Okay,” Olivia agreed, taking a step back. “Have you chased ghosts before?”

“Oh, yes,” Demo gave a firm nod. “I’ll have to tell you all about it, but first, how about we go eat dinner? You must be hungry, wee one,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the long wait! I'm taking online classes and my schedule isn't as forgiving as it was before. Anyway, I realize this chapter is a bit short and uneventful, but the chapter after this one is going to be much different if all goes according to plan. In any case, thank you for reading! Feedback is always appreciated.


	14. Chapter 14

Dinner that night was an event no one would ever forget.

Spy had lit candles for whatever reason (he’d said that a candlelit dinner just had a better ‘feel’ than regular meals), although Pyro did not seem to pay the flame any mind, at least not yet.

They had a new guest at the table that night, though: Sniper’s mother. Not the adoptive mother everyone knew as being kind and charitable, but his biological mother. Lar-Nah had hardly said a word since entering the house, and she just stared at the tablecloth, picking at the fabric with her nails. Sniper had tried to engage her in conversation, but most of his attempts had failed so far, so now the entire table was silent. Yet, as was almost always the case, Engineer became the one to try and be diplomatic.

“So!” Engineer began, spooning out a bit of roasted vegetables onto a plate. “Miss Lar-Nah: how, uh, how have you been settlin’ in? Everything good with you?”

Lar-Nah did not answer for a long time, long enough that the others wondered if she’d even heard the question. Just as Engie was going to repeat himself, Lar-Nah spoke.

“My room is very small,” she remarked, her voice low.

“Is it?” Engie asked, surprised. “Which room are you in?”

Sniper answered for her, “She’s in the guest room that’s just down the hall from where I’m sleeping. I know it’s small, but the bathroom’s right next to it.”

“That room?” Miss Pauling frowned, buttering a slice of bread. “Sniper, that room still has equipment in it! I haven’t finished unpacking all of it…” she sighed. “Oh, well. I can do that later. I hope it’s okay, Lar-Nah,” she pushed a slice of bread in Lar-Nah’s direction. “Here,”

“Thank you,” Lar-Nah muttered, the first time she’d audibly thanked anyone this whole time. She then proceeded to pick up the bread slice and shove the whole thing into her mouth like it was nothing, chewing.

Scout watched her chew the whole slice of bread, dumbfounded. “Wow, you eat like a snake! The hell was that?”

“Scout!” Sniper hissed from across the table, clenching his teeth.

Lar-Nah didn’t seem to acknowledge Scout, and she instead focused on picking at the noodles on the plate she’d been given.

Helen stared silently from the head of the table at Lar-Nah, her eyes moving up and down as if she were scanning the other woman. “Lar-Nah,” she began after a few seconds. “I do hope you don’t mind that we will have to keep you here for an extended period of time, and that when you do leave this place, you cannot tell anyone about what you’ve seen or where you’ve been,”

Lar-Nah didn’t look up, but she replied flatly, “I don’t have anyone I could tell. It doesn’t matter,”

Helen went quiet again, still staring at her. “Good,” she remarked after a moment. “We have to keep certain things secret; you understand?”

Once again, Lar-Nah went quiet and did not say anything for a long time. Olivia, seated across the table from her, just studied her face and wondered if maybe Lar-Nah was sad too, like she was. Maybe that was why she acted this way, although Olivia had no way of knowing. She supposed she could ask.

“Why are you sad?” Olivia asked rather bluntly.

Lar-Nah froze, staring back up at Olivia. Miss Pauling panicked, quickly reaching for Olivia and pulling her close.

“Don’t pay any attention to her!” Miss Pauling tried to reassure, attempting to laugh the whole thing off. “She’s just—”

“I was just asking a question!” Olivia scowled, wrestling away from Pauling’s hands.

“Well, you can’t just ask someone why they’re sad!” Pauling tried to reason.

Demoman raised an eyebrow. “Says who?”

“Says…oh, I don’t know!” Pauling sighed. “Olivia, it’s just not polite,”

Olivia slumped back into her chair, huffing. It was then, though, that she looked at Soldier’s usual spot at the table and realized he was gone. “Where’s Jane?”

“Jane went to use bathroom,” Heavy assured, pushing Olivia’s plate towards her. “Do not worry about him, eat dinner while it is hot,”

As Olivia sat up again and got a forkful of noodles, the back door swung open, and Soldier trudged inside with something stuffed beneath his arm.

Spy sighed and muttered, “Of course he went outside again…”

“I found Lieutenant Bites!” Soldier announced, holding up a very frazzled raccoon. He began to sit down at the table, raccoon and all, explaining, “He was in the trash can, but I—”

“No!” Helen shouted, jabbing her finger in Soldier’s direction. “Put that thing back outside this instant!”

Soldier fired back, “He’s a part of this team! He’s one of the best fighters I have ever known! Isn’t that right, Bites?”

The raccoon hissed and spat, grabbing a hunk of bread in its paws and chewing. Olivia sat up taller, watching the animal in interest. “Wow! I’ve never seen one of those up close before!”

“That’s because they’re not supposed to be inside!” Spy stood up, reaching for Soldier. “If you won’t put it outside, let me do it!”

Sniper scoffed. “You won’t! That bugger is gonna piss all over that suit of yours,”

Soldier noticed that Olivia appeared interested in the raccoon, and he held the creature up for her to see. “Isn’t he incredibly strong and intelligent?”

Bites became aware of the lit candle, and he began shrieking louder, flailing. At the sound of the raccoon, Lar-Nah jerked her head back up and grabbed a steak knife, her eyes suddenly full of rage towards the raccoon. Sniper noticed, and he grabbed her by the arms, pulling her back. “No! No, mum—put the knife down!”

Olivia drew back in surprise at the sight of Lar-Nah with the knife, and Zhanna shouted at Lar-Nah, “Do not threaten small animal! He has done nothing!”

“Let go of me!” Lar-Nah snapped, yanking her hands away from Sniper with such force that her wrist smacked into one of the lit candles. It fell into the tablecloth, setting it partially ablaze.

Pyro clapped their hands at the sight of the fire, giggling with delight. Medic yelped, grabbing the pitcher of water and dumping the whole thing across the table. “No! Not again!”

The fire was extinguished, but most of the table was drenched, now, including the head of the table where Helen sat. The whole room fell silent once more as everyone slowly turned to look at Helen, who was eerily quiet now.

She had been drenched in some of the water, and now her hair and blouse were soaked. The expression on her face was blank, yet there was a deep rage in her eyes.

Miss Pauling frantically tried to gather some dry napkins. “Oh, Jesus! Helen, Helen, oh god, let me—”

“No,” Helen cut her off, slowly rising out of her chair. “No need.” She still held her head high, despite the ice water dripping off of her and onto the floor. Her mascara ran down her face, though she just wiped it away and stormed out of the room, her high heels clicking as she did so.

The bedroom door upstairs slammed shut, and everyone was left in silence again.

“We’re dead,” Scout remarked simply, his eyes still wide.

“No…no. It’s okay,” Miss Pauling tried to reassure, though her voice was quaking. “Just – get some towels, let’s clean this up. Please,” she heard the raccoon begin shrieking again, and she snapped at Soldier, “Soldier, put that thing outside!”

Soldier held onto the raccoon defiantly, but Zhanna took him by the arm and led him to the door. “Come, Jane,”

As everyone else picked up the disaster of a dinner, Olivia stood by and watched, still bristling from everything she had seen.

Spy noticed her, and he knelt beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Perhaps its best if you step out for a bit,”

Olivia frowned. “But there’s nothing to do…”

“Not true,” Spy looked around, before pulling the nearest newspaper close. He opened up to the crossword, passing it to Olivia. “Have you ever done one of these before?”

At the sight of the crossword, Olivia’s eyes lit up. “Oh! I know that! My daddy showed me one of those before!”

Spy smiled, pleased. “Good, here’s a pen,” he handed her a fountain pen from his pocket. “Why don’t you go into the living room and work on that for a bit?”

“Okay!” Olivia replied, heading into the living room and sitting right on the sofa to complete the puzzle.

Spy watched her for a moment, before assisting with picking up the table somewhat. Once he felt he’d helped enough, he slipped off to the study, closing the door behind him.

Earlier that day, Spy had discovered a phone number belonging to Belicia, Gray Mann’s maid and Olivia’s nanny. Gray had Beli listed in the will as someone who had access to his inheritance, and yet she’d completely vanished after they’d gone through Gray’s house. Spy could have just left her alone, but he had so many questions: why was she in the will? What was her relationship to Gray like? And, something else Spy had wondered, did she know where Olivia had come from?

Spy sat down at the desk and pulled out the slip of paper where he’d written down the number, and after he’d studied it for a moment, he reached for the phone and began to dial.

The phone rang a few times, before there was a click, and Beli’s voice filtered through the receiver. “Yeah, this is Beli. Who’s this?”

Spy cleared his throat. “Good evening, Miss Belicia, I hope you are doing well. I am an employee at Mann Co., and I just wanted to ask some questions about Gray Mann,”

Beli fell quiet, before she answered, “Well…what do you wanna know?”

“It says in his will that you are entitled to his fortune and his position, just in case something ever happened to Olivia,” Spy informed her. “I just wondered—”

“Did something happen to Olivia?” Beli cut in, her voice flat.

“Well…no,” Spy felt a wind of confusion at her response. “Olivia is all right, but…were you aware that you’re in his will?”

“Yeah,” Belicia sighed. “But I don’t want his filthy money. He might’ve paid me well, but now that he’s gone, I don’t care.”

“…I see,” Spy blinked a few times, processing this.

Beli went on. “I’m finally with my own family and my own children, and I don’t have to raise his child anymore. He corrupted her, you know. From the second she was born, he put her in front of a desk and put her to work. He screwed her up.”

Spy hummed and nodded slowly, his suspicions of how Gray had raised her now confirmed. He went quiet again, before he asked, “Belicia: if you don’t mind me asking, where did Olivia come from?”

“Where did she come from?” Belicia repeated, sounding surprised that he had asked. She paused, before answering, “Honestly…I don’t know. I was there the first night she came to the house, but Gray didn’t tell me where she was from,”

“Can you tell me about the first night?” Spy wanted to know.

Belicia paused once more, thinking. “It was real late at night, maybe eleven or so. I was getting ready to go home for the weekend, but Gray had been out for the night and I had to wait for him to come back so I could get my paycheck. Finally, he showed up, but he was holding this tiny baby! I was like, ‘who’s baby is that?’ and he said it was his daughter. I was so surprised, since he never married or anything, and on top of that I never saw him date anyone, but he kept saying the baby was his daughter and that he had a birth certificate to prove it. Then he said I was going to be the baby’s nanny, which I didn’t want, but he offered to pay for my son’s tuition in exchange for me raising his baby as part of my job…”

“Did you do it?” Spy asked.

“Yeah,” Belicia sighed. “Of course, I did, I wanted my son to go to school. But I raised Olivia, I saw her every day except on weekends. She was so cute when she was a baby, but Gray was obsessed with her being his ‘legacy’, so he trained her to be grown when she was still little, and he also taught her to be mean and rude…” she shuddered. “I hope she grows up okay. Where is she now?”

“She’s with us,” Spy explained. “We’re caring for her under the watch of the Administrator…she’s safe,”

Belicia hummed. “Good. Well, I’m glad she’s safe, but I’m not coming back for her. She’s not my child, you understand?”

“I understand,” Spy clarified, before he took a breath. “It was nice talking to you, Beli. Have a good rest of your evening,”

“God bless,” Belicia murmured in reply as she ended the call, and Spy set the receiver down.

Spy laid back in the desk chair, thinking over what he’d been told. Gray just showed up one evening with Olivia…well, that brought up many more questions. Who was her mother? Did Gray adopt her? If he adopted her, why was there a birth certificate? Had the birth certificate been forged?

Spy stood up, stretching. The only real way to figure this out was through a DNA test…but at this point, perhaps it did not matter. As long as Olivia was kept out of harm’s way, she’d be all right, and it didn’t matter if she had other relatives around…although Spy still wanted to try and get more information out of Miss Pauling, at the very least. She and Helen seemed to know something about Olivia that the others did not, and Spy never liked being a person who did not know a secret.

Meanwhile, in the living room, Olivia was still working on the crossword puzzle Spy had given her. She had gotten through a little less than half of it, but she’d gotten stumped on a particularly long word. She leaned her chin into her hand, huffing, trying to figure out an answer.

At some point, Lar-Nah had entered the living room to get away from everyone else, and she found a quiet corner on the armchair. Olivia hardly noticed her at first, until Sniper walked in.

“Hey, sorry about dinner,” he apologized to Lar-Nah, sitting across from her on the sofa. “I didn’t mean for things to get that way…”

Lar-Nah did not answer him, focusing on her nails again. Sniper’s heart sank, and he pulled back, looking away. He didn’t quite see her as his mother just yet, but he wanted something from her, even if it was just small conversation. He refused to acknowledge that Spy was right about him wanting a mother figure, though, as he felt a bit pathetic for admitting such a thing.

Olivia looked up in Sniper’s direction, and she held up the crossword. “I need help!”

“Oh,” Sniper shook himself out of his thoughts. “With what? That crossword?” he gestured for her to sit next to him. “Bring it here, we’ll work on it together,”

Olivia climbed up on the couch, laying the crossword puzzle on Sniper’s lap and pointing at the part that was giving her trouble. “Number six! It has an ‘F’, seven letters, and the clue says its an ‘animal with spots’,”

Sniper tapped his chin in thought, counting the letters again. “Lemme see…seven letters, spots…giraffe?”

Olivia looked back at the clue. “Maybe?”

“Try that, see if that works,” he suggested.

Olivia wrote down ‘giraffe’ into the boxes, and she replied, “It fits!”

“Good!” Sniper nodded. “Good…any other ones you need help with?”

“Um…” Olivia looked through the other few she’d missed. “Oh, this is a hard one! It goes down, it’s six letters again, but there’s an ‘R’ in it, and the clue says it’s a type of flower,”

Sniper pursed his lips in thought. “Oh, geez...a flower, huh? I don’t know much about flowers…what kinds of flowers have ‘R’ in the name? Aside from roses, but I know it can’t be those since it’s not six letters, but—”

“Orchid,” Lar-Nah spoke up from where she sat on the armchair.

Sniper and Olivia both looked up in surprise. “Huh?” Sniper asked after a moment.

“Orchid,” Lar-Nah repeated. “It’s a type of flower and it has six letters in the name, one of which is ‘R’.”

Olivia started to write the name, but she stopped, frowning. “I dunno how to spell that!”

Lar-Nah got up out of the armchair, standing by the couch and leaning over Olivia’s shoulder. “O-R-C-H-I-D, in each box—yes, like that,”

Olivia finished writing, and she grinned. “It fits! See?”

“Yeah…” Sniper smiled back, first at Olivia and then up at Lar-Nah. “Um—do you maybe wanna help us with the rest of the puzzle?”

Lar-Nah did not answer for a moment, but she nodded, sitting down beside Sniper and Olivia. “Show us the next one,”

Olivia, quite excited, pointed out the next word in the puzzle. “This one starts with an ‘L’, and it means ‘to make slippery’!”

“That’s easy,” Lar-Nah scoffed. “It’s ‘lubricate’, see? It has nine letters,”

As Olivia wrote the word into the boxes, Sniper couldn’t help but smile again, looking back over at his mother, and he knew things wouldn’t be so bad after all.

The sun set, and everything became dark outside. Miss Pauling had finished cleaning up the dining room, and she went upstairs to Helen’s bedroom, knocking on the door.

“Helen? It’s me…” Pauling swallowed anxiously. “I haven’t seen you since dinner…are you okay?”

There was no answer for a long moment. Finally, Helen responded, “You may enter, Miss Pauling,”

Miss Pauling stepped in, closing the door behind her and looking up to where Helen sat. Helen was sitting at the vanity in the corner of the room, dressed in her nightgown and bathrobe, and the record player beside her played some old Irish folk songs. She looked clean and polished, and there was no evidence of what had happened at dinner.

Pauling looked Helen up and down, before she took a breath. “Look, I-I’m really sorry about what happened at dinner—”

“Don’t apologize,” Helen put her hand up to silence Pauling. “It was bound to happen, I suppose,” she turned around, fixing her hair in the mirror. “Let’s just forget this happened,”

“…okay,” Pauling sat down on the edge of the bed, watching Helen brush her hair.

Helen began to speak as she tied her hair back into a braid. “Tomorrow, you and I are meeting with Phoenix Sage, and we are getting to the rest of that Australium once and for all,”

“We are?” Pauling asked, surprised. “But— are we going alone?”

“If anyone can convince Phoenix Sage, its me,” Helen assured, turning back to look at Pauling. “And if there is anyone I can count on to assist me, its you,”

Miss Pauling felt a blush come to her cheeks, and she couldn’t help but smile. “Well, ma’am…okay, yeah. Yeah, I can do that,”

Helen smiled, briefly. “Good. I knew I could count on you,” she turned back to the mirror, finishing the braid with a ribbon.

Pauling avidly watched her, studying the way she meticulously tied the ribbon into a bow, the way she brushed the wisps of graying hair away from her forehead…Pauling suddenly couldn’t help herself, and she stood up, approaching Helen from behind and wrapping her arms around her from behind, hugging her close.

Helen stopped what she was doing, and she gently placed her hand over Pauling’s. They said nothing to each other for a long while, before Pauling released her grip and straightened back up.

“Um…” Pauling cleared her throat, her face still warm. “Hey, Helen…are you sure you don’t wanna tell Olivia—”

“Worry about that later,” Helen stated. “She’s adjusting fine…don’t worry,” she squeezed Pauling’s hand again, and Pauling squeezed in return before she stepped away.

“Okay,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you don't mind that this chapter was a bit longer! I'm trying to make them longer, since I feel like the others prior to this have been too short...I have a zoom class in ten minutes, but I thought I'd update this before I had to go to that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix Sage is officially a threat.

It was the early hours of the morning when Olivia awoke. It was that time in between night and day when it was still dark, yet there may be a hint or two of sunlight just over the horizon. But Olivia’s room was oppressively dark when she awoke with a gasp, clutching her sheets.

She took a moment to try and calm herself down, though she whimpered out loud. She’d had a nightmare—she didn’t even want to think about it, and the more she sat up with eyes wide open, the more she slowly started to forget it. She only remembered one image, and it was of her father…he had been staring at her, from a distance, and while normally she would have been happy to see him, she had felt frightened. She had run away from him, for the very first time.

Though Olivia could not quite recall the details of the dream, the feeling of fear made her feel incredibly on edge. Her tiny body trembled as she pulled her blanket tighter around herself, though out of the corner of her eye, it did not help that the stack of clothing sitting on her chair looked vaguely like a person. Though part of her knew it wasn’t, the sight alone was enough to have her pressing her eyes shut, trying not to see it and hoping that would make the fear go away.

Just then, the squeaking of floorboards in the hallway caught Olivia’s attention. She opened her eyes again, looking towards the door and listening. She heard the bathroom door open, and then close again, and moments later, the familiar sound of the shower started. The sound woke up something in Olivia, and she remembered when her father would get ready in the mornings, and how she would lay in the adjacent hallway while he showered and subsequently fall asleep to the sounds of the water. While her father did not like her doing that, and he had told her many times that he did not like it, it had never stopped her. She longed for the comfort of the warm hallway and the relaxing sounds of water, and when she heard the shower running, she did not stop herself from climbing out of bed and opening the door to the hallway.

Olivia wandered into the hall, which was still quite dark as everyone else was still asleep and the sunlight had not entered this part of the house yet. She approached the bathroom, hearing the running water getting closer, and it was outside the closed door that she noticed the laundry basket. She touched the clothes, and they felt warm, meaning they had just come out of the dryer. Without even truly thinking about it, Olivia crawled into the basket and settled into the warm clothes, curling up in them as she listened to the shower water rattle against the pipes. Almost instantly, she forgot about the nightmare and the darkness of her father’s presence, and she closed her eyes, soaking up the warmth of the clothes and the sounds of the water from the other side of the door. There, she fell right asleep again, and though it wasn’t a terribly long sleep, it was dreamless and calm, a comfort compared to what she had previously.

Olivia woke moments later to the feeling of someone gently lifting her out of the basket and carrying her, though she was still so groggy with sleep that she did not fully process who it was. As the person carried Olivia into her bedroom and laid her down in her own bed, Olivia tried to say something to let them know she was awake.

She barely registered that she had made a noise, but the figure putting her to bed just whispered, “Shh, go back to sleep,” before tucking her back into the blankets.

At this point, hazy rays of sunshine began to filter through the windows, and Olivia opened her eyes again, just in time to see the corner of a soft, plush bathrobe disappear down the hallway. Before she could contemplate what just happened, she fell right asleep again.

This moment felt like a dream to her later, when she woke up once again but this time to the sun completely out and the sky a sharp, bright blue. Olivia sat up, yawning, and rubbing her eyes, before the sound of a car door slamming got her attention. She glanced out the nearby window just as the Administrator’s car started up, backed out of the driveway, and headed down the winding road. Olivia watched it disappear over the hill as she stood up out of bed and headed into the hallway.

But it was on the staircase, though, that Olivia stopped completely in her tracks: there, on the next step sat the largest spider she had ever seen. It hardly looked real, but it was moving around, crawling across the step to the wall.

Olivia yelped when she saw it, and she looked all around, trying to find something she could crush it with. Just as she had picked up a nearby slipper, Sniper walked in from the other room.

“What are you fussin’ for?” he asked, stopping Olivia from crushing the spider.

“I found a huge, ugly spider!” Olivia informed him, pointing to it. “I’m gonna smash it!”

Sniper clicked his tongue, taking the slipper from her. “No, no. Don’t do that,”

“What?” Olivia scowled, trying to get the slipper back. “But it’s weird and big!”

“So?” Sniper asked. “What’s that got to do with it?” he picked up the spider with his hands like it was nothing, and before Olivia could say anything, he opened the nearby window and let the spider go. It scurried outside and vanished somewhere around the corner of the Townhouse, and Sniper closed the window once it was gone.

Olivia blinked in surprise, and she looked up at Sniper. “You don’t kill spiders?”

Sniper straightened up, scratching the back of his head. “I try not to kill them. Spiders are good, they kill pests,”

“Oh…” she looked back out the window in the direction of where the spider had disappeared. “But— but spiders are so gross…”

“Lots of things are gross,” Sniper pointed out. “But that doesn’t make them not important. Eating is gross, you ever think about how gross of a process that is?”

“No,” Olivia admitted. “But that’s different…”

“I know,” Sniper shrugged. “But still, you get what I’m saying, yeah?”

Olivia didn’t quite grasp what he was trying to get across, but she just nodded anyway. Sniper laughed, and he ushered her away from the stairs. “C’mon, Engineer just made breakfast for everyone,”

At the same time, Miss Pauling watched the scenery go by outside the car window as she and Helen drove out to meet with Phoenix Sage. She turned to look at Helen, observing her as she just watched the road ahead, an unreadable look in her eyes.

After a moment, Miss Pauling cleared her throat. “So…Helen, I don’t know if you’ve ever explained it, but…what happened between Security Republic and Mann Co.? I know they made security cameras for a long time, but…”

The Administrator sighed. “I would have thought Saxton Hale at least would have mentioned it to you, but I suppose not. It’s a bit of a long story…”

Miss Pauling fell quiet, before she assured, “I’d like to hear it. You can tell me,”

Helen’s hands gripped the steering wheel as she stared ahead at the road, and with a long breath in she began to speak: “Over thirty years ago, Mann Co. and Security Republic had a contract which stated that we would pay them for the security cameras they supplied to us. Yet the CEO of Security Republic at that time was Phoenix’s father, Isaac Sage, and he was a bit of a…showman, to say the least,”

“What do you mean?” Miss Pauling wanted to know.

“He had dreams for his company that went beyond security cameras,” Helen explained. “He wanted to build an empire, one that would provide everything people needed and wanted. Entertainment, appliances, food, delivery services…he wanted to manufacture it all. But there was something else he wanted,”

Helen paused as she focused back on the road, turning the corner down the road. She continued after a few seconds. “Isaac wanted to merge the two companies. He brought it up constantly, though the Hales always had to tell him that it couldn’t be done. The Manns themselves were even offended that he ever brought it up, but that didn’t stop him…” she took another breath. “He felt that connecting the companies in any way, shape, or form would bring him closer to achieving this goal. He had lost his wife many years earlier, so he wanted to marry someone from the Mann family in hopes that this would lead to a potential merging of both companies, but since there were no women in the Mann family at that time…he asked me to marry him,”

“Really?” Pauling asked, shocked. “Wait— you said no, right?”

Helen just sighed. “I said yes,”

Pauling was shocked. “But…hang on, does that mean Phoenix is…?”

“No, of course not,” Helen assured quickly. “Phoenix was from Isaac’s first wife. He was about twelve years old when I married his father, but I never assumed the role of his mother. He had a nanny, anyhow, and she cared for him most of the time,”

“…oh, my god,” Miss Pauling just sat there for a moment, taking this in. She somehow couldn’t imagine Helen being married to a man—it seemed unrealistic to her.

Helen went on. “I was married to Isaac for almost ten years, which was far too many if I’m being honest. I only ever said yes so I could have access to his money. But he died, and when he did, Phoenix took his position immediately. He wanted to protect his father’s legacy and fulfill his wishes for the company, but in doing so, he wanted to merge the companies. Yet he was aggressive about it in a way Isaac never was, even threatening violence when he didn’t get his way,”

They were approaching Security Republic headquarters, now, and the building was slowly coming into sight. Helen just stared at it, driving slowly down the path to the parking lot. “That was when we ended our contract with Security Republic. A different provider began manufacturing cameras for us, and the Manns filed a restraining order against Sage and some associates of his. We did not hear from him again…” she pulled into a parking spot, turning the car off. “Until now.”

Miss Pauling processed all of this, feeling surprised that she had never heard about this before. She reached for her bag, slinging it over her shoulder, but she stopped to look back at Helen just as she was opening the car door. “Hey, Helen—what did Sage ask for in exchange for the Australium?”

Helen just grabbed her purse, settling it over her shoulder. “Isn’t it obvious? A merge with Mann Co. is what he wants,”

They headed into the building, and a security guard directed them to Sage’s office. As the door to the office opened, Sage was already at the desk, leaned back in his chair and grinning.

“Helen! Helen, my darling stepmother!” he greeted when he saw her, and he stood up to reach for her hand. “It’s been so long…”

Helen shook his hand, though she jerked it away afterwards as if she’d been burned. “I am not your stepmother anymore, Phoenix,”

Phoenix Sage clicked his tongue. “Oh, come on. You know I barely have anyone to call family anymore,”

“That’s not my problem,” Helen cleared her throat. “Now, about the deal…”

Sage sat back down at his desk, gesturing for her to sit. “I know you love that Australium of yours, but I feel an appropriate trade would be the amount we have left for a merge with Mann Co.,” he smiled again, his white teeth showing. “Saxton Hale refused my offer, but will you?”

Helen was quiet for a long moment. Slowly, she raised her hand and pointed in the direction of a storage container towards the back of the room. “Is the Australium being kept in there?”

“Who’s to say?” Phoenix shrugged, though the look on his face indicated that she was correct. He breathed loudly out of his nostrils. “Let’s not get distracted,”

“Phoenix,” Helen spoke up again. “You know we can’t merge the company with anything else. Hale just got back from under the control of Gray, merging it with your company would cause many financial problems.”

Phoenix hummed, his fingers tapping the desk. “Gosh, that’s too bad…but, it could be an amazing opportunity for you. We have opened several new factories here, we have our own television channels, and soon: I would like to open a department store!” he sighed wistfully, imagining it all. “Old dad would be so proud, wouldn’t he? You can be a part of it, while also getting your Australium…all you have to do is say yes,”

Miss Pauling looked towards Helen, waiting to see a reaction. Helen’s eyes narrowed as she stared back at Phoenix, before she began, “You must be losing your mind if you think I would ever sink my funds and this company into a venture like the one you have here. I’ll have you know I have ways of achieving the things I want that don’t involve pleasantries—it surprises me that you forget that about me so quickly,”

“Why do you even stay with Mann Co., anyway?” Phoenix snarked, sitting up taller. His expression had changed, his friendly demeanor melting away. “The Manns are all dead! You have no reason to stay sacked in their company anymore.”

“Oh, I have reasons,” Helen assured, her eyes narrowed into a glare. “And I will never let anyone, especially you, get in the way of my desires. Do you understand me?”

Phoenix leaned closer to Helen, looking her in the eyes. “Is that a threat?”

Helen’s eye twitched, though she did not back away from him. “What do you think?”

There was a long pause, before Phoenix pressed a button on his loudspeaker. “Joann,” he spoke into it. “Send security up into my office and escort these two women out,”

Miss Pauling stood up, reaching for a weapon from her bag. “Oh, no, you don’t! No way am I gonna let some security guard just—”

Before she could finish, Phoenix rounded his desk and shoved Miss Pauling to the floor, knocking her bag away from her. The doors burst open right then, and a security guard quickly grabbed Helen by the arms, yanking her towards the door.

Helen yelped, but she twisted and lifted her leg to forcefully kick the guard in the groin with her high-heel. The guard shouted in pain, but he didn’t let go, and instead another guard assisted him in apprehending her.

As they dragged her out the door, Phoenix shouted after her, “I can’t wait to see those mercenaries of yours again! I have a feeling we’ll be meeting soon…”

The guards tossed Helen out the back door, throwing her gracelessly into a patch of grass. She wasn’t hurt, though her dignity had definitely been wounded, and she would see to it that this would be rectified.

Moments later, Pauling was quickly tossed out as well, landing beside Helen in the grass with a shout. As the door slammed, Helen stood up, and she helped Pauling up as well. “Are you all right?”

Miss Pauling fixed her hair, taking a breath. “Yeah, I’m okay…sorry I couldn’t shoot him in time,”

“Don’t worry,” Helen assured her, pulling her towards the parking lot. “You will, later. For now, we should get out of here,”

It was then, though, that Pauling stopped Helen. “Wait—before we go, look what I managed to get,”

She opened her bag and pulled out something that was wrapped in a cluster of tissues. She parted the tissues slightly to show Helen, and right away, a golden glow began resonating from the item.

Helen stared in shock, before she looked back at Pauling. “How—how did you…?”

Pauling let out a breathless laugh. “They were so busy with you that they didn’t see me take it! This isn’t all of it, but—”

“That’s perfect, it’s perfect,” Helen quickly ushered Pauling into the car. “I am so proud of you, but we need to get out of here. His security cameras likely caught you taking that…”

It wasn’t until after Helen and Pauling had driven off that Sage checked his cameras and realized that Miss Pauling had, indeed, taken some Australium from the storage container while he had been distracted.

Filled with rage, he stormed down the stairs and into his employees’ office, shouting, “This is it, everyone! I will declare war on Mann Co. starting today!”

The employees just stared at him, bewildered, until one asked, “What do you mean ‘declare war’?”

“I don’t know how I’ll do it,” he went on. “But I will, they’ll know better than to mess with the likes of me, next time…”

Just then, his assistant Joann pulled him into the other room, whispering, “Mr. Sage, we’ve received some news about the Mann family,”

Once they were alone, Sage closed the door behind him, raising an eyebrow. “What? The Manns are all dead. What are you talking about?”

Joann just shook her head, and she held up a file. “According to some associates, the youngest daughter is still alive. Not only that, but we have reason to believe that she’s staying with the Mann Co. mercenaries or possibly with Helen,”

Sage went quiet for a long moment. “Really?” he asked, and he grinned, his eyes glittering with malice. “How interesting…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I apologize for the late update, life has been hectic. I'd like to take a second and thank everyone for keeping up with this story and for all of your lovely comments! I don't always reply to comments directly (not for any real reason, I just don't either don't remember to or I can't think of how to respond) but I do read every single comment and I'm just so thankful that so many people are enjoying this story. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and feedback is always appreciated.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olivia gets a camera.

It was after breakfast when Olivia spotted a box in the living room, and out of curiosity, she peeked inside. It was filled with an assortment of items, such as a few books, some tools, and some metallic items she was unable to identify. She dug through the box, pursing her lips together in disappointment. She hadn’t had an idea of what she was hoping to find, but she hoped there are at least would be something in there she could enjoy. 

“Whoa, there, kid!” Engineer’s voice piped up from behind her, and he gently pulled her away from the box. “What are you after?”

Olivia shrugged, peering back into the box again. “I dunno! Something interesting, I guess…”

Engie thought for a moment, tapping his chin. “Interesting, huh? Well, this is just some stuff for my workspace, you ain’t gonna find anything too interesting in here. Except…”

He reached into the box, pulling out a small camera. “I got this! It’s a real nice camera, see?”

Olivia leaned in to look at the device. It was smooth and sleek, though a little dusty around the crevices, and she watched as Engineer brushed some of the dust away with his finger. “There we go,” he hummed, before passing it to her. “Do you know how to use a camera?”

“I know a little!” Olivia replied, taking the camera into her hands and looking it over. “I saw Daddy use one once…” she turned it around, searching for the button, and she pressed it once she managed to locate it. Instantly, there was a flash, and the camera began to click. 

Within a few seconds, the camera spit out a small picture, which Engie tugged out and held up to the light. “There we go! Give it time to develop, and then you got a nice picture!”

Olivia took it from Engie’s hands to get a good look at it, watching as the accidental picture she had taken of the carpet slowly developed. “Oh!” she gasped, feeling proud of herself as she showed Engineer. “Look! It worked!”

Engineer laughed. “Great, yeah! You can use it if you want! I got a bunch of these cameras laying around, go ahead and take pictures! I used to take all kinds of pictures as a kid,”  
Olivia stuffed the picture into her pocket, and she turned away to scamper up the stairs. “I’m gonna take pictures of everything!”

“Yeah, go ahead!” Engie chuckled, picking the box up and rising to his feet so he could finish setting the office up. 

Olivia ran up towards the bathroom, where she spotted Scout brushing his teeth over the sink. Without giving any kind of warning, she positioned her camera and took a photo of him, the flash catching him off guard. 

“Gah!” Scout exclaimed, nearly choking on the toothbrush. “Jeez, kid, what the hell!?”

The camera produced the small photo, and Olivia tugged it out, waving it around like she had seen Engineer do. “Look what I got!”

Scout squinted at the object. “Camera, huh? Cool, but if you’re gonna take a picture of me, it better be a good one!” 

“Good one?” Olivia repeated, stuffing the new photo into her pocket with the other one. 

“Yeah! Hang on,” Scout wiped his mouth with a towel before he took another, clean towel and draped it around his shoulders. He then struck a pose, flexing one arm and grinning. “Okay, now take a picture!”

Olivia held up the camera again, snapping a photo. Once it printed, she pulled it out of the slot and held it up to the light, giggling. “Looks like a magazine!"

Scout laughed, reaching for it. “Lemme see!” when she passed it to him, he stared at it for a moment before nodding in approval. “Yeah, looks great! You could be a photo-person or whatever, for newspapers and stuff,”

“Could I?” Olivia looked down at the camera, thinking about it. Any future job besides taking her father’s place had never seemed like a possibility…but, given her current circumstance, taking photos could end up being her job instead. 

Just then, Lar-Nah stepped out of the other room, and when Olivia heard her, she turned right back around and took her picture as well. Lar-Nah jolted in alarm at the flash, letting out a yelp. 

“What was that!?” she demanded to know. “Why are you taking photos!?”

“Hey, be nice to the kid!” Scout reprimanded. “She’s just taking pictures, she’s gonna be a photo-person maybe!”

Lar-Nah composed herself, before she just shook her head at Scout. “Photographer. You mean photographer. ‘Photo-person’ is not a job,”

Scout waved her off. “Same difference. Hey, kid,” he put his hand on Olivia’s shoulder. “You wanna take pictures around the house?” 

Olivia glanced back over at Lar-Nah. Lar-Nah lingered by the doorway, before she turned and headed down the stairs. 

“Don’t worry about her,” Scout cleared his throat. “How about you take pictures of like, stuff outside? Or bugs? I dunno, that kinda thing,”

“I don’t want to take pictures of bugs,” Olivia wrinkled her nose. After a moment, she decided, “I’ll take pictures of Teddy!”

“Oh, the doc’s monkey? Sure, go nuts,” Scout turned back to the mirror, slathering shaving cream on his face. “I gotta shave real quick,”

Olivia tilted her head in confusion, watching him apply the shaving cream. “But you don’t have a beard,”

“Better go see Teddy before he takes his nap,” Scout suggested, raising his voice slightly, though it was clear he wasn’t trying to be mean. Olivia shrugged, and she headed back down the stairs in hopes of getting a picture or two of Teddy. 

Upon arriving to Medic’s basement lab, Olivia stopped at the foot of the stairs and looked around, trying to remember where he kept Teddy. The basement had been rearranged slightly since the last time Olivia had been down there, so she tried to figure out where Teddy’s playpen had been moved to. 

However, as she peeked over the doorway and into the lab, she noticed something unusual. There was a TV down there, now, and Heavy was seated on a couch in front of it. As Olivia watched, she realized that Medic was there, too, but he was curled up beside Heavy, cuddling against him. 

The TV showed an old, black and white film, and a man on the screen tripped and fell into a trashcan as a laugh-track played. Heavy laughed out loud, as Medic just clicked his tongue and mumbled something about how ‘predictable’ the show was. Heavy leaned over, nuzzling Medic’s cheek with his nose and chuckling. Medic could not help but smile, exhaling of his nose as he nuzzled back. Then, the two of them kissed one another gently. 

Olivia watched in stunned silence, blinking slowly. She almost forgot about the camera in her hands, and without thinking, she loosened her grip on it. It slipped out of her hands, and once she realized what had happened, she acted quickly and attempted to catch it. She managed to catch it, but not without accidentally pressing the button and taking a photo of her own sock by mistake. 

Medic startled at the sound of the flash, and he jerked his head up in alarm. “Gott!” he exclaimed, noticing Olivia. “Child, did you take a picture of us!?”

“No, I didn’t!” Olivia pulled out the picture once the camera spat it out, holding it up for Medic and Heavy to see. “I-I was just—!”

Heavy shushed her, getting up from the couch. “Is okay. What you need? Need something?”

“I…” Olivia then spotted Teddy in his playpen, which had been moved over next to Medic’s cabinets. The little baboon was sleeping peacefully, sucking on his pacifier in his sleep. Olivia shook her head. “No…”

“All right,” Heavy smiled at her, though he seemed a little uneasy. “See that?” he pointed to a little bell hanging up outside of the lab. “Ring that next time, yes?”

Olivia looked up at the bell, and she nodded after a moment. “Okay…I will,”

She walked slowly back up the stairs, wondering about what she had seen. Were Medic and Heavy in love? She had seen old movies before where people kissed, and they usually did that when they were in love…she didn’t see what was so great about kissing, though. 

Just as Olivia wandered into the kitchen, the side door swung open. She looked towards the direction of the sound, and it was right then that the Administrator walked in with Miss Pauling right behind her. 

Miss Pauling noticed the camera Olivia held in her hands, and she nodded at it. “Hey! You’ve been taking pictures?”

“Yeah,” Olivia reached into her pockets, fishing out the photos she’d taken so far and showing them to her. “I got these ones!” 

As Pauling bent down to get a look at the pictures, the Administrator set her purse down on the counter to watch Olivia show off her photos. When Olivia noticed Helen watching her, Helen cleared her throat and looked away. 

“Olivia,” she began, before looking back at her. “I’m going to hold a meeting with the adults, so you will need to be upstairs for that,”

Olivia frowned, huffing. “I don’t wanna! I was just up there!”

Helen raised her voice just a little. “You have to, a meeting is no place for a child,”

Olivia crossed her arms defiantly, glaring up at Helen. “No! You can’t make me do anything!”

“Really?” Helen crossed her arms in return, taking a step forward. “That simply isn’t true…”

Miss Pauling suddenly cut in, getting between Helen and Olivia. “Hey, I have an idea! Why don’t you go outside and take pictures of plants and stuff, Olivia? It’s really pretty outside, that might be fun,”

Olivia turned to look out the window, seeing that it was, in fact, very nice and sunny outside. She looked down at the camera again, and then shrugged. “Okay…yeah, I can do that, I guess…”

“Good!” Pauling gestured to the door. “How about you do that while we have our meeting?”

“She should be supervised if she’s outside,” Helen muttered, leaning against the counter to rub her temples. 

“Oh…yeah,” Miss Pauling looked around, and she spotted Zhanna lingering in the adjacent dining room. “Hey! Zhanna, can you look after Olivia while she’s taking pictures outside?”

Zhanna glanced up, and she nodded. “That is fine,” she walked up to Olivia, taking her free hand and leading her to the back door. “Come, little Olivia,”

“Okay…” Olivia didn’t really want to miss the meeting—she liked meetings, she liked being somewhere where she could feel important. But she didn’t mind being around Zhanna at all, and she found that she actually enjoyed taking pictures. 

As the back door closed, Helen let out a long sigh. “What am I going to do with that girl?”

Miss Pauling fell quiet, and she placed her hand on Helen’s arm to get her attention. “We should really get the guys down here for the meeting,”

Helen shook herself, nodding in agreement. “Yes—yes, of course,”

Once Olivia and Zhanna were outside, Zhanna pointed out a patch of grass in the yard. “Look—grass, take picture of grass,”

Olivia wrinkled her nose at the thought. “But it’s just grass…”

Zhanna went quiet for a moment, before she knelt down in the grass and pointed to the soil. “Get close—see?”

“See what?” Olivia moved a little closer to try and see what Zhanna was pointing at. There, in the soil, sat a little stone, surrounded by smaller pebbles. At first glance, it didn’t seem terribly interesting, but the more Olivia stared at it, the more appealing it seemed somehow. 

After a moment, she got her camera back out, snapping a photo of the little rocks. As the picture printed out of the camera, Zhanna glanced back up and reached for it. “Let’s see?” 

As Zhanna took the freshly printed picture into her hand, Olivia stood behind her and watched it develop. Once it became visible, Olivia couldn’t help but grin with pride. “It looks nice!”

“It does,” Zhanna agreed with a nod. “You are good at this,”

“Yeah…” Olivia stuffed the picture into her pocket with all the others, before trotting away to the trees behind the house. “I’m gonna find more things!”

Zhanna smiled, and she stood up, following closely behind Olivia. “All right,”

Inside the house, the mercenaries were, once again, gathered in the study for another meeting with the Administrator. This time, however, the atmosphere was different. 

“So—wait,” Engineer just shook his head with a sigh. “Sage is sending people after us, now?”

“I said he possibly will send someone,” Helen clarified. “He’s been known to do that with opponents, and well, we are no exception. That is why we should waste no time preparing our defenses,”

Heavy frowned. “This is very bad. Of course, we can destroy puny men, men like him. But…why he want this? With us?”

“It’s me he’s after,” Helen explained. “But its your job to make sure Sage or whoever he hires doesn’t penetrate our defenses. Once you do your job, I will deal with Sage myself…”

Demoman just stared at his shoe, digging his foot into the carpet. “Sure, you will,” he murmured under his breath. 

Helen glanced up when she heard the muttering. “Sorry, what was that?”

“Nothing,” Demo responded, clearing his throat. 

There was a pause, and Helen made a dismissive gesture with her hand. “You may leave. Make sure you have your weapons on hand just in case,”

As the mercenaries dispersed, they began muttering amongst themselves once they were out of earshot from Helen. 

“There she goes again, dragging us into a mess she created!” Medic huffed as he retrieved his bonesaw from one of the boxes. “Not that I don’t mind a new set of targets, of course, but goodness!”

Scout leaned against the wall, shaking his head. “Man, people don’t just settle things themselves like they used to…if I was her, I would’ve messed up that Sage guy myself! In fact, you know what? I’ll do it!”

Sniper just rolled his eyes. “No, you won’t,”

Spy watched these interactions from a distance, before he turned to look at Miss Pauling, who was busy putting away some folders. He made sure no one else was watching, and he then approached her and got her attention by tapping her shoulder. “Miss Pauling,”

Miss Pauling paused, turning to look up at him. “Yeah? What’s up?” 

Spy thought about how to phrase his question. “Well…I would like to know about Helen: why is she doing this?”

“Doing what?” Pauling folded her arms, leaning against the cabinet. 

“You know her better than anyone,” Spy went on. “What I’d like to know is why she even wants to keep dragging this on, why she’s doing all of this…why can’t she just…?”

“Die?” Pauling finished for him, a glare in her eyes. 

“I wasn’t going to say that,” Spy clarified. 

Pauling sighed, leaning her head in her hand. “Yeah…sorry. I just…” she looked back up at him, brushing her hair away from her eyes. “It’s complicated,”

“All of it?” Spy questioned. “How is it complicated? Is there no simple, straight explanation as to why she’s staying with us like this? Why she cannot simply kill Sage herself?” another thought crossed his mind, and he added, “Why she’s keeping Olivia here?”

“God, Spy!” Pauling sighed again, a little more exasperated than before. “I told you, Olivia is gonna be fine!”

“I know you told me that,” Spy affirmed, lowering his voice a little. “But I am not inclined to believe you,”

Pauling’s hands balled into fists. “Oh, yeah? And why? What do you think she’s gonna do with Olivia?”

Spy looked all around to make sure Helen was not watching or listening in, and when he made sure she had left, he turned back to Miss Pauling. “I think she’s going to adopt Olivia, and then do something to her to get her fortune,”

Pauling went quiet, and she covered her face with her hands after a moment. “No…Spy…”

“I’m right, aren’t I?” Spy pressed, starting to feel angrier by the second. “Miss Pauling, you know I respect you, but I cannot get behind this. Crimes committed against children, to me, are the worst crimes. You know this.”

“No…” Pauling just shook her head again. “No, no, you don’t understand. She’s not gonna hurt Olivia, Spy!”

“And how do I know that?” Spy persisted. “How do I know she won’t—?”

Miss Pauling suddenly blurted out, “Because Olivia’s her daughter! Helen isn’t going to hurt her own kid!” 

The words hung heavy in the air. Once Pauling realized what she said, her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth. “I…I…”

Spy blinked, his brow creasing in confusion. “What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This has been a long time coming. I'd like to keep this brief, but I would just like to apologize for the lack of updates. I believe it's been over a month since I last updated? Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! Ended with a cliffhanger to keep you on your toes.  
> Also: Happy New Year! It is currently 11:41 PM as I am writing this but by the time you read this it's probably going to be midnight. In any case, thanks for reading this chapter, and feedback is always appreciated.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning: this chapter briefly mentions details about pregnancy and childbirth. It's pretty brief, but it's in there, so be careful.

To escape the earshot of anyone else in the house, Spy and Miss Pauling retreated to the front porch to discuss what had just been revealed. 

Miss Pauling looked all around the porch, searching each corner in an anxious manner. “Sorry, I just…” she sighed, sitting down on one of the porch chairs and smoothing her skirt out. “I keep having this fear that someone put a recording device here, and…I-I don’t want that,”

“I do not wish for that either,” Spy replied simply, brushing off the other porch chair before taking a seat. “But all I want is to know the truth, Miss Pauling,”

There was a pause as Pauling stared out towards the front lawn, visibly focused on something deep within herself. After a moment, she looked back to Spy, taking a long breath. “Okay. You want the truth? Well…here it is,” 

She cleared her throat, beginning her story: “I got called to Helen’s place around three in the morning. It was just her, no one else, which was already weird, but I went anyway. When I got there, she was just in her bathrobe, and she looked…” Pauling trailed off, glancing away for a few seconds. “Scared. I don’t know how else to describe it, but she looked really scared,”

Spy listened quietly, just nodding. He commented, “That is very unusual for her. What happened then?”

Pauling continued, “She told me to come upstairs, so I followed her inside, and…that was where things started making sense, but at the same time, got weirder…”

Miss Pauling went on to explain that, as she followed Helen inside, she noticed more and more concerning evidence that something had happened. There was a shattered mug and a trail of blood leading up the staircase, all of which she carefully stepped around as Helen led her upstairs. 

Once they made it to the second floor, Helen paused at the entrance to the hallway. She pointed to the bathroom on her left and had said simply, “In there,”

Miss Pauling stepped in, looking around. At first, she didn’t really know what she was looking at: there was more blood on the floor and a bloody towel in the nearby laundry basket, but…that was it, from what Pauling could see. Her first thought was that Helen killed someone and needed her to dispose of the body, but when she checked the laundry basket, her heart dropped. 

Wrapped up within that blood-stained towel and laying in the laundry basket was a tiny newborn baby, still covered in fluid and with the cord still attached. For a moment, Pauling thought the baby was dead, but when she touched it, it whimpered and began to squirm. Pauling retracted her hand, feeling so many questions run through her mind as she tried to make sense of this. 

“Who—whose baby is this!?” Pauling exclaimed, rising to her feet in a flurry of panic. “Oh, god, oh god…we need to call someone! I—we—I need to get it to a doctor’s or something, this isn’t—”

“Pauling,” Helen interrupted her, her voice shaking slightly. She was leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom, her expression one of despair and panic. As Pauling turned to look up at her, it was then that she noticed something else: more blood, but this time, running down the inside of Helen’s leg. 

Then, it all clicked. Pauling processed the scene for a moment, before she spoke up again, her voice a little softer than before. “Helen? Is…is this your baby?”

Helen was silent, her eyes focusing back on the little bundle in the laundry basket. She nodded after a few seconds. “Yes…”

Miss Pauling had so many questions. Was Helen pregnant this entire time? If so, who could have possibly been the father? How on earth did someone her age even get pregnant in the first place? In any case, Pauling knew she had to call for an ambulance and get both Helen and the child to a hospital. 

“Okay…okay,” Pauling took a breath, trying to compose herself. “Helen? Helen, I’m gonna use your phone to call the hospital, okay? We need to—”

“No,” Helen cut in, placing a hand on Pauling’s shoulder. “That’s not why I called for you.”

“What?” Pauling’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Then why…?”  
Their eyes met, and suddenly Pauling understood why. Helen wanted to keep this a secret. She didn’t want anyone to know of this baby, and if she went to a hospital full of nurses and doctors, more and more people would know what happened. That word could possibly get back to Mann Co., and if news broke that the Administrator had given birth to an illegitimate child…well, Pauling didn’t know what would happen, but she knew that could possibly be used against Helen.

And yet…Helen trusted her. She trusted her to see her in such a vulnerable state, and to take care of her in this moment. Knowing this, Pauling felt a strange sense of pride, as well as a newfound respect for her boss, as she understood now that their interactions went deeper than work, now. 

With this in mind, Pauling pushed aside her need to get a doctor involved and instead focused on the present. “Okay…” she reached for one of the cabinets, getting out a clean towel. “Here, let me help you…”

After giving Helen some time to clean up and compose herself, Pauling gave her a set of clean clothes to wear and got her situated in bed with a cup of hot tea. Once she knew Helen was comfortable, Pauling went back into the bathroom for the baby. The baby, who turned out to be a girl, was actually quite agreeable and hardly cried when Pauling washed her in the sink. Lucky for the little one, Pauling had some experience with babies after growing up with young siblings, so she knew to make sure the water was at the right temperature and to carefully dry the baby off afterwards. She then wrapped the infant into a new towel, making sure she was nice and snug before heading back into Helen’s bedroom. 

When Pauling entered, Helen was in the process of finishing up a phone call. “Yes, just knock and Miss Pauling will answer,” Helen was saying, the phone’s receiver tucked beneath her chin as she sipped on the tea. All the fear from Helen’s face seemed to have vanished, and now she just looked exhausted. 

Helen waited for the other person to finish speaking, before she replied, “Thank you. I truly thank you for everything,” and with that, she hung up. 

Pauling sat on the edge of the bed, the baby laying in her arms. “Who was that?” she asked, watching Helen’s expression. 

“That was Edith Greene,” Helen explained, laying her teacup on the nightstand. “The social worker,”

“Social worker…” Pauling repeated. She nodded. “Okay, so—the baby’s going to be adopted?”

“Yes,” Helen took a moment to smooth her hair back, clearing her throat. “I don’t know by who, but Ms. Greene has assured that someone has been selected.”

“I see,” Pauling looked down at the baby, and she could not help but feel a little sad that Helen was not going to be keeping her. On second thought, though, that might be for the best…

Edith arrived shortly after this. She did not speak to Pauling or Helen for very long, and she had Helen sign a few papers before taking the baby. 

Before Edith left, Helen called out to her, “Whoever she goes to, I hope they care for her well,”

Edith paused, glancing over her shoulder at Helen, the baby still in her arms. “Oh, he will. Don’t worry.”

Pauling stayed with Helen until morning to make sure there weren’t any complications. By the time the sun came up, Pauling had fallen asleep on the floor, only to be awoken by Helen kneeling down and carefully shaking her awake. Helen had all her makeup on as well as a fresh work outfit, and by all accounts, she looked like nothing had happened. 

“You can go home now, Miss Pauling,” Helen assured her. “Thank you…this will not be forgotten,”

Miss Pauling pushed herself up, fixing her glasses and taking a breath. “Hey, no problem. Anytime, ma’am…”

Neither of them spoke of this situation again for the next six years, although Pauling never forgot about it. She sometimes found herself wondering what became of Helen’s daughter, where she ended up or who she ended up with. 

She did not have to wonder for much longer. After a meeting with Gray Mann had gone awry, Miss Pauling had a phone conversation with Helen that would change everything. 

“And did Saxton tell you?” Pauling took a moment to take a sip of a drink before continuing. “Gray has this little girl—her name is Olivia, and he’s been using her to try and—”

“I know Olivia,” Helen cut in. Right away, Pauling noticed the shift in her tone, and she went quiet. 

“You…do?” Pauling asked, raising an eyebrow.

There was a long pause, before Helen let out a sigh. “That’s my daughter.”

Pauling let out a nervous laugh. “No, no, Helen, come on. That can’t be…”

All of the sudden, the memories of that night came flooding back, and Pauling put together the timeline of events with consideration of how old Olivia was. She froze, thinking it over. 

“But…wait, if that’s your daughter…” Pauling tried to make sense of all this, her heart racing. “How does Gray have her!? Why is she here?”

“He knew,” Helen stated simply. “I have no idea how he could have known about her, but he did. I discovered this a few months ago, and I managed to get a confession out of Edith. He paid her, her paid her to give Olivia to him once she was born,”

Pauling sat there in silence, her mouth agape. She shook herself out of it, though. “So—wait, does he know she’s yours?”

“Of course he does!” Helen snapped. “He knows, and he’s torturing me with it. He has her wave at my security cameras when they walk by, he even sent me a Holiday card some time ago, to mock me—oh, I was a fool to trust Edith!” 

Pauling felt her heart ache. “Helen…god, I’m so sorry,”

There was a pause, before Helen spoke up again. “I don’t blame you for any of this, Miss Pauling. I’m…very thankful I can trust you with all of this. But, mark my words: if I make it out alive, I will put Gray to death and take my daughter back. Make no mistake.”

Evidently, though, Helen did not have to put Gray to death. Miss Pauling, however, did not expect Helen to actually go through with taking Olivia back—Helen was older, and had never expressed any interest in raising children, so it was unusual that she would take back a child she seemingly hadn’t wanted to raise. 

And now they were here, at this townhouse in the middle of nowhere. 

Miss Pauling wiped her eyes when she finished telling the story. “Why the hell am I crying? Goddammit…”

Spy lit his cigarette, taking all this in. “So,” he began, a pensive look on his face. “Olivia is Helen’s child,”

“That’s right,” Miss Pauling sniffed, slipping her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. 

“I see…” Spy blew out a bit of smoke, staring out towards the lawn. “I never expected this. Helen has never been the maternal type, but…she must love that girl, in her own way,” he went quiet again, thinking about his own experience with parenthood, how he had also run from it, only to be reunited with his own child later…

“Spy, you need to promise not to tell anyone,” Pauling spoke up, her voice firmer than before. “This can’t get out to anybody—Helen has made this really clear to me,”

“I understand,” Spy assured, turning to look back at her. “That was very kind of you, to take care of her that night…”

Miss Pauling just nodded, staring down at her hands. “Of course, I helped her,” she explained quietly. “I’d do anything for her…you know that.”

Just then, the door opened, and Engineer stepped out onto the porch.

“Howdy, you two,” he greeted with a nod. “Either of you see Olivia?”

“She’s with Zhanna,” Pauling assured. “They went out to take pictures,”

Engineer clicked his tongue. “Well…Zhanna just came in, and she says she lost sight of Olivia. She can’t find her either,”

Miss Pauling processed this information for a moment, and then she stood up quickly. “Oh, god…she probably didn’t go far, but still…”

Pauling was correct in assuming that Olivia didn’t go very far. Olivia had simply ventured out of Zhanna’s sight and into the surrounding woods, which were not that deep, but they were still quite intimidating at first glance. 

As Olivia wandered through the brush of the forest, she could see something just a few feet away, covered in moss and hidden by trees. She looked over her shoulder to make sure she still knew the way back home before she made her way towards the moss-covered structure. 

It was a tiny house, upon further inspection, perhaps more of a cottage. Olivia examined it for a moment, noticing how it looked as though it had been pretty once, but it had been completely abandoned by whoever had once owned it. 

Olivia tried the handle, but the door would not budge. She frowned, trying again, although she soon realized it was hopeless and gave up. Instead, she wiped away some of the moss on the window, peeking inside to try and get an idea of what secrets the old cottage had. All she could see were a few overturned chairs and a table, and while she was disappointed that it wasn’t something spectacular, she still held her camera back up to try and take a picture of her discovery. 

Once Olivia snapped a few photos of the cottage’s interior, she decided to try a different window to see what she could find. Right as she pulled over a rusty bucket to stand on so she could investigate the other window, she heard footsteps on the forest floor behind her. 

Believing Zhanna had returned, Olivia called over her shoulder. “Look what I found! Isn’t it cool?”

Yet the voice that replied to hers was not Zhanna: “Olivia, get down from there this instant!”

Olivia startled, whirling around all the way to see Helen approaching her. Helen looked irritated, and as she got closer, she reached for Olivia. “Come here—”

It was then, though, that Olivia lost her balance on the rusty bucket, slipping and nearly falling face first into the dirt. Luckily, Helen caught her before any damage could occur, and she hoisted her up into her arms.

“What on earth are you doing out here?” Helen demanded to know. “You are not supposed to go this far into the woods!”

Olivia made a face, squirming to try and get out of Helen’s grip. “Let me go! Put me down!”

Helen set her down, but took her hand anyway. “Come back to the house, child. This is no place for you,”

“I was taking pictures!” Olivia dug the photos she’d taken out of her pocket, waving them for Helen to see. “See? I’m really good at it!”

Helen paused, taking a moment to examine the pictures of the cottage. She took a long breath. “I see. You can work on your skill without going all the way out here,”

Olivia pouted, stuffing her pictures back into her pocket. “I don’t get to do anything…”

“That is not true, and you know it,” Helen chided, leading Olivia back to the house. As they approached the yard, Helen took a moment to smooth down Olivia’s hair. “Now your hair has gotten messy…”

“Hey!” Olivia ducked her head away from Helen’s hand. “My hair is okay! I still have my bow, see?” she pointed to the bow in her hair. “I put in myself!”

“Yes, so you did…” Helen remarked as they made it to the back door. She opened it, ushering Olivia inside. “Here you are. Go wash up,”

Olivia frowned again, glaring back up at Helen for a moment. She didn’t appreciate being bossed around by her—and why did she touch her hair so much? 

Just as Olivia opened her mouth to snap at Helen, she felt someone put a hand on her shoulder, getting her attention. 

“There you are!” Zhanna exclaimed, pulling her close. “You were very naughty, got away from me!” 

“You didn’t follow me when I said so!” Olivia insisted. “I said to follow me, and you didn’t!”

“I did not hear you!” Zhanna argued back, hands (well, one hand) on her hips. “You just disappeared, flew away like baby bird!”

Helen got between the two of them, crossing her arms at Zhanna. “You were supposed to be watching her,”

Zhanna scowled, her brow furrowing. “Hm. If you are concerned, maybe you watch her next time,”

“Excuse me?” Helen leaned a little closer, raising her voice. 

“I said so,” Zhanna affirmed. “You act like mother, you act like little Olivia’s mother. If you act like mother, you be mother, yes? Why can’t you?”

Helen went silent, before she slowly pulled away and stalked off to the kitchen. Olivia watched her leave, and then looked back up at Zhanna. 

“Why is she mean?” Olivia asked, crossing her arms with a huff. 

Zhanna stared off into the kitchen where Helen disappeared. “I do not know…” she shook her head, turning to leave. “Come with me, little Olivia. We will watch television, forget about this,”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick warning: this chapter contains mentions of substance abuse. If that's something that bothers you, tread carefully when reading.

A mysterious bowl of pistachios sat out on the table - mysterious in the sense that Olivia had not actually seen anyone put them out, yet they were there, and they’d been there for a while. Olivia picked one out of the bowl and looked it over, before cracking the shell to reveal the nut inside. 

She remembered how her father used to eat these, and that sometimes he would share them with her on late nights they stayed up to finish her lessons. Now, though, the pistachio did not taste the way she recalled pistachios tasting, and she spat it out right after taking a bite of it. Setting the bowl down, she leaned against the table, pursing her lips together as she realized that the world had become incredibly different ever since her father died. 

Just then, something clattered upstairs, and Olivia could hear Sniper yelling, “Oh, piss! No! Hell…” 

Intrigued, Olivia got back up and headed up the stairs, curious to know what the matter was. 

In one of the bedrooms, Sniper had set up a tower of crates, but clearly, they had not been as steady as he thought. They had toppled over and onto the floor, and one of them also knocked down some trinkets on a nearby counter. As Olivia peeked in through the doorway, she could see Sniper kneeling on the floor, collecting the items he knocked down while muttering to himself. 

“What are you doing?” she asked after a moment, stepping into the room. 

Sniper startled, turning around to look at Olivia. “Oh! Hey, uh, I didn’t expect to see you there,”

Olivia took a moment to look all around the room, just observing. “Are those your guns?” she pointed out Sniper’s weapon cases, which were stacked beside the window. 

“Oh, I…” Sniper nodded, moving closer to Olivia. “Yeah…look, it's nothing that concerns you, alright?”

This statement piqued Olivia’s interest right away, her eyes getting wide. “What happened? Are you gonna get to shoot someone?”

Sniper started to answer, “Well, I dunno if—”

“Can I watch?” Olivia cut him off, a glint of something Sniper did not like in her eyes. 

Before he could try and dissolve the situation, however, a pair of footsteps came stumbling up the stairs, and Lar-Nah soon appeared in the doorway. When Olivia looked up at her, she noticed that she was smiling, but it was a dazed, sleepy smile. Not only that, but she smelled like some strange kind of chemical, and though the scent wasn’t terribly strong, it made Olivia take a step back while wrinkling her nose. 

“What are you kids doing?” Lar-Nah slurred, her body leaning against the doorframe. 

Olivia tilted her head at the sight of Lar-Nah, watching her in confusion. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked, rather blunt. 

Lar-Nah giggled again. “Nothing is wrong! Nothing is wrong…”

Sniper’s mouth hung open for a moment before he growled and stormed up to his mother, snatching up her wrist. “Are you drunk!?”

“Don’t touch me!” Lar-Nah yelped, her expression suddenly changing to one of anger. She tugged her wrist away from him, staggering back. “Why do you care, anyway…?”

Across the hall, the other bedroom door opened, and Demoman emerged with a basket of clothes. Upon noticing him, Sniper called out, “Did my mom get into your scrumpy!?”

Demo froze in confusion. “What!? No way in hell would I just leave my—” 

Lar-Nah waved him off. “No, no, no…no,” she reached into the pocket of the long coat she was wearing, and she produced a now mostly empty bottle of cough syrup. “I tried to get into your masked friend’s wine stash, but I couldn’t get the combination lock…he knows how to keep a secure lock! Anyway, luckily the doctor had this, and this is the greatest kind of cough syrup I have ever had,”

Sniper yanked the bottle out of her hand, staring at her in disbelief. “Are…are you bloody serious right now!?”

Olivia took a few steps back, just observing the interaction in silence. Lar-Nah blinked, and then replied simply, “Yes, I did drink that, yes,”

“How could you!?” Sniper’s voice pitched a little, but he did not back down. “We give you a place to stay, food, people to be with, and then you do…you do this!? You drink bloody cough syrup, out of everything!?”

Lar-Nah only shook her head, not wanting to make eye contact with her son. “You sound like my mother,”

“Good!” Sniper snapped at her, his hand tightening around the bottle. “At least one of us is being responsible around here…”

At that, Demo noticed Olivia watching this interaction, and he quickly grabbed her by the hand to take her into the hallway. “Aye, lassie! Best we step out for a bit…”

Olivia resisted him at first, but then gave in and allowed him to take her down the hallway and towards the stairs. She continued listening, though: the tone of Lar-Nah’s voice changed, and she suddenly began yelling back at Sniper. 

“And who are you to tell me how to live my life!?” Lar-Nah barked back at him. “This isn’t your body, you son of a…”

“Son of a what?” Sniper crossed his arms. When she didn’t answer, he prompted her again. “Son of a what? No, finish that thought!” 

From the room next door, Scout could be heard pounding on the wall. “Hey! Shut up!”

Lar-Nah stumbled towards the wall, sneering out at him, “Oh, shut up, eh? Is that how you talk to women? Your mother must be proud…”

“That’s something a nerd would say!” Scout yelled back. 

Before Lar-Nah could say or do anything else, the amount of cough-syrup she’d consumed began to make her head throb, and she struggled to stay on her feet but failed. She collapsed right in front of Sniper and onto the floor, creating a loud ‘thud’ as her body met the wood panels. 

Sniper huffed, dropping down and yanking Lar-Nah up to her feet. “Oh, get up! Bloody hell, you’re a mess…” 

He dragged her into the adjacent bathroom, ignoring Scout (who at this point had come out of the other room to watch the scene unfold) and closing the door behind them. 

Once he was alone with his mother, Sniper felt the anger and bitterness he’d been feeling for the past few months start to seep out of him, and it was then that he began to rant, not caring if his mother was conscious enough to understand him. 

“I didn’t have to bring you here,” he growled, carrying her to the tub and setting her down inside of it. “I have a mom – she’s the one who raised me, she’s the one who taught me how to be a good bloke, how to ride a bike, how to read…but she’s gone, now,” 

Sniper paused, watching Lar-Nah for a moment. She appeared to have passed out, her head laid back and her eyes shut. He continued. “All you did was give birth to me. Maybe I just…maybe I just thought you’d be here for me, in the way she was. But I was wrong…” he grabbed the showerhead off the wall, switching the water on. “First day here, and you get piss-drunk on cough syrup!”

He turned the showerhead and began spraying her with the cold water in an attempt to sober her up. He knew she would not have the best reaction to this, but he didn’t expect her to react the way she did.   
The moment the cold water contacted her body, Lar-Nah let out a blood-curdling shriek, waving her hands wildly and scrambling to get away. Sniper almost felt guilty for doing this, but he didn’t stop. Something about this was strangely cathartic for him, and he tilted the showerhead to get some of the chilled water onto her face. 

Lar-Nah tried to stand up but slipped, falling flat onto her back with another loud yell. Yet instead of trying to escape again, she curled up into a ball and began to sob, her whole body shaking and her eyes wide open. When Sniper saw this, he shut off the water instantly, realizing something was terribly wrong. He stood there, showerhead in hand, watching as Lar-Nah shook like a leaf and sobbed, her face contorted into one of panic. 

She began whispering something, and as Sniper leaned down to listen, he could make out some words: 

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry, I won’t do it again…” she whispered, just barely audible. She sounded almost like a scared child, and she repeated, “I won’t do it again…I’m sorry, Auntie, I’m so sorry…”

Sniper wondered for a moment if maybe she was faking this to get sympathy out of him, but when he reached down and touched her shoulder, he felt right away how tense her muscles had become. This was serious, and without thinking, he pulled her out of the tub and carefully laid her down onto the bathmat. 

Lar-Nah yelped again, but Sniper quickly grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped it around her, rubbing her shoulder with one hand. “Hey…” he swallowed, trying to sound comforting. “I-it’s okay, Mom…”

As Lar-Nah continued to sob quietly, Sniper sat with her on the bathroom floor, trying his best to put her at ease by rubbing her shoulders. When she pulled the towel tighter around herself, Sniper spoke gently, “You’re not there, mom. You’re here…”

The sobs simmered down to a low whimper, before stopping entirely. Lar-Nah caught her breath, and after a few seconds, she lifted her head. There was a look of confusion on her face, and she looked down at her soaking wet clothes and the towel wrapped around herself. She then looked to Sniper, searching his face for answers. 

“What happened?” she asked after a moment, squinting. “Am I hungover again…?”

Sniper tried to think of how to respond. “Uh…sort of,” he moved back, giving her some personal space but also wanting to keep an eye on her. “Do you…not remember what just…?”

Before he could finish, the door opened, and Medic stepped in. “Goodness!” he exclaimed, taking in the sight of Lar-Nah. “What happened here!? Tavish told me you drank a bottle of cough syrup!”

“Oh…” the memory came back to Lar-Nah, and she refused to meet Medic’s gaze. “I…did, yes. I did do that,” 

Sniper watched her expression as she spoke, and this time, he saw the pain in her eyes. She was running from something, and he could see that, now. 

Medic just sighed, walking closer and helping Lar-Nah up. “Come with me…that cough syrup is my own invention! It works well, but it is meant for sick people only,” 

“That’s me,” Lar-Nah murmured, following Medic downstairs to the lab. 

Sniper followed close behind, and as he watched his mother, he suddenly felt like the world did not feel the way it did before. 

Olivia had heard most of the commotion, but Demo had distracted her with another crossword puzzle to keep her from watching the incident. At some point, though, Demo had left the living room, meaning that Olivia was alone again. 

She set the crossword to the side, getting up to investigate whatever the adults were up to. Sniper had guns with him, and it seemed like Scout had been busy with something, too…something was afoot, and she was curious to figure out what it was. At that moment, though, Heavy seemingly came out of nowhere and placed his hand on Olivia’s shoulder. 

“What you doing, little Olivia?” he asked her, leaning down to brush a few wisps of hair away from her forehead. 

Olivia pursed her lips together, rocking on her heels. “I wanna see the guns…”

Heavy’s expression changed, and he frowned. “Guns? Why guns?”

“Well…” she turned to look up at him. “Sniper had guns in his room, and he looked like he was gonna do something with them. Is he gonna shoot someone?”

Heavy took a long breath, keeping his hand on Olivia’s shoulder. After a moment, he answered, “We should hope we will not need to shoot. You are little, do not want you get hurt…”

Olivia gasped a little at that, suddenly excited. “Is there gonna be a fight?” before Heavy could reply, Olivia jumped up and ran to the front door. “I wanna help! I wanna fight, too!”

Horrified, Heavy rushed over and plucked her away from the door, exclaiming, “Olivia! No!”

Olivia squirmed in his grip, grunting and flailing her hands. “What!? I wanna fight! I wanna—”

Heavy set Olivia down on the sofa, and he sat beside her, taking her hands into his. “Olivia,” he began, his tone low and serious. “You are too little for fighting. Is not your job,” 

Olivia crossed her arms, scowling. “But daddy says if I fight, guys won’t wanna fight back because they won’t hurt me—”

“Your father was wrong,” Heavy cut her off, and he moved closer to make sure Olivia understood him. “Very wrong,”

“But it worked!” Olivia insisted. “Saxton didn’t wanna fight me, those other guys weren’t gonna do it either!”

Heavy sighed. “Olivia…there are some men, very bad men, who do not care that you are so small,” 

Olivia paused, watching Heavy’s face and seeing how drastically his expression had changed. She went quiet, before asking, “What?”

Heavy clasped his hands around hers, and he began, “I was small, one time…bad men came to our village, took everything, killed my father…” he paused, hoping this story wouldn’t be too upsetting for Olivia, but she only stared silently up at him. He continued. “I did not think they would hurt me, or my sisters. I was wrong…”

“What’d they do?” Olivia asked, suddenly feeling quite uneasy. 

Heavy shook his head. “It does not matter. Was long time ago. But, little Olivia…” he tucked his finger beneath her chin, looking her in the eyes. “Men like them…they are more, always more. And they do not care how little their enemy may be…they do not care. They would hurt you, and not care,” 

Olivia stared down at her hands, noticing how they were shaking all of a sudden. “That’s not…that’s not what daddy told me…” 

“I know,” Heavy squeezed her hand. “But I have seen war. Is no place for a little one,”

The clock on the wall ticked in a quiet rhythm as Heavy and Olivia sat in silence. After a moment, Olivia murmured, “I wish I wasn’t so little…”

“You will not always be,” Heavy assured her, pulling her into his lap. “But is okay to be little…” 

Olivia laid her head on his chest, and she let out a sad little sigh. “I feel scared,” she admitted softly. “But I don’t wanna be scared,”

Heavy felt his heart ache when she said that, and he placed his hand on her back to reassure her. “Is okay…you are protected. We will keep you safe,” he pulled away, and he gave her a small smile. “You like books? Like to read?”

“Oh,” Olivia thought about it, and then nodded. “Yeah, I can read. Daddy taught me how to,” 

“Good,” Heavy turned around, reaching for the bookshelf behind him. “Let us see…ah! Fairytales!” he pulled out a large book titled, _100 Classic Fairytales_ and then handed it to Olivia. “Here! You want to read?”

Olivia took a moment to just look over the book’s front cover. It was beautifully decorated, with gold trimmings and sweet animal characters, and while Olivia was interested in it, she felt as though she were missing something.   
“Yeah, but…” she looked up at Heavy, moving closer to him. “Can you…read it with me?”  
Heavy paused, but he nodded, settling down against the couch with her. “Of course. We read together, yes?”  
As Heavy opened the book and began to read with Olivia, his heartache still did not go away. Olivia did not deserve this: she did not deserve to feel afraid of these strange, threatening men. Heavy remembered when his sisters were younger, around Olivia’s age, and how growing up in such violent circumstances had affected them later in their lives. Olivia deserved better, and Heavy knew he and the others had to do better for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, it's been so long since I updated! I'm technically supposed to be classwork right now, but I felt the need to post the latest chapter. This story is going to be much longer than I thought, but hopefully, you don't mind that. Anyway, thank you for reading! Feedback is always appreciated.


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